Fireworks
by Shima2112
Summary: After celebrating their 5-year anniversary with their best friend, Phineas and Ferb realize she's hiding something-something that could change their lives forever. Will her shocking secret be enough to destroy everything they care about? Meanwhile, Perry's having some trouble with Doofenshmirtz! Can he figure out what's wrong with the evil inventor? PhineasXOC, other pairings too!
1. Anniversary

****AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, everyone, Shima here. For these ANs you can just call me Shi! This is my first ever story of Fanfiction, so please try not to be too harsh on me :) I have a few pictures posted on this story at deviant art, so check those out too (my username is shimasteam2112) Now, if any of you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask me! Enjoy!****

**UPDATE 3/27/14: Um...eheh. -hides in a corner- It's been over a year, hasn't it? -whispers- Wow I really have gotten lazy...**

**Phineas: Why have you abandoned us?!**

**Shi: I DIDN'T, okay?! I'm actually in the process of rewriting this story, thank you very much! (Lolz Khaka Peu Peu much?) And I sincerely apologize for not updating in so long, but I went through a horrifying fiasco (involving my sister deleting ALL of my stories, yes, ALL of my beautiful writings were deleted permanently, including the new chapters for this one, so I therefore lost all motivation whatsoever) and I've also been extremely busy with school and worrying about college...and then there were some tragic family deaths that made me very depressed, and...let's not get into that, shall we? Anyway, I cannot tell you how sorry I am, and I also cannot tell you the next time I'll be updating, but I'll try my best! I PROMISE I WON'T LEAVE YOU ALONE, PHIN!**

**Phineas: -pouting- ...I don't believe you.**

**Shi: But I...I've had such a hard time lately...-cries-**

**Phineas: ! I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Shi! -hugs-**

**Shi: Thankies ;w; Anyways, enjoy it how it is now, because it won't be this way for much longer! Of course, the storyline will remain mostly the same, but a lot of things will be changed (mainly because my writing has improved since...well, whenever I last updated, and honestly, looking back on this story I have often slapped myself in the face and said, "WHY?! This is so freaking STUPID! I cannot BELIEVE I wrote this crap! I can do WAY better than this!" So, yeah, I'm replacing the lame stuff with...less lame stuff). That aside...**

**Roll the chappy!**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Anniversary

It was another fantastic, bright summer day for 15-year-old Phineas Flynn and 16-year-old Ferb Fletcher; they happily raced down the stairs that morning for breakfast, eager to start their usual days' activities in their backyard.

Both Phineas and Ferb were extremely smart for their age, always building something extraordinary each day, their minds filled with endless amounts of creativity.

Phineas was dressed in his normal orange-and-white-striped hoodie, navy jeans, and blue converse. His flaming red hair bounced with every step he took, and his bright blue eyes were shining with a good-natured spirit.

Ferb wore his usual purple pants and yellow shirt, and today he had on a purple baseball hat that was turned backwards, slightly flattening his messy green hair.

The step-brothers walked into the kitchen that morning to the sweet smell of syrup and pancakes, probably made by their mother, Linda Flynn. Their pet platypus, Perry, was curled up in the corner, snoozing softly.

"Good morning, Perry," Phineas laughed as he looked over to see Perry now snoring quite loudly.

"Good morning, boys," Said Linda as she walked in with a plate piled with pancakes and a sufficient amount of syrup dripping down the sides. She set the plate down on the table and smiled at them. "Time for breakfast."

"Morning, Mom," Phineas said cheerfully.

Ferb took his seat, expecting Phineas to sit down next to him; however, Phineas was now marching straight for the sliding glass door that led into the backyard.

"Where do you think you're going?" Somebody growled as suddenly Phineas was pulled back by his hoodie.

Phineas let out a yelp of surprise and turned around to see his big sister, Candace Flynn, glaring down at him with a suspicious expression on her face.

She was 20 years old, with reddish-orange hair, and today she was wearing a red tank top and white pants with her red belt. On her feet were her trademark white shoes and red socks. Phineas had always thought she had looked like a candy cane, but he had never spoken that thought aloud, knowing that his sister would probably try to kill him. Her main goal every summer was to, still, bust her brothers whenever they were building one of their wild inventions. She wasn't as up to it these days as much as she had been when she was 15, though, because nowadays she'd always be with her new fiancé, Jeremy Johnson, so she usually never had the time to bust them.

"I'm going into the backyard," Phineas replied simply.

"Absolutely not, young man, you will come over here and eat your breakfast right now," His mother ordered strictly. "You know the rules, Phineas, no going out until you've eaten. You need energy for the day, and that's why you need to eat breakfast, so you can get that energy."

Sighing, Phineas trudged over to the table and plopped down in his seat with reluctance. He stabbed a pancake with his fork and placed it on his plate, and began to eat.

"Are you that eager to see her this early? It's only 6:30, she probably isn't even awake yet…" Murmured Ferb quietly.

Phineas immediately shot his brother a guilty, flushed look, his face bright red. "F-Ferb!" Phineas stuttered. "T-that's not…what I…why I w-wanted to…" He scratched his ear furiously, which was something he'd always do when he was lying, and Phineas was positive Ferb was aware of this bad habit. Ferb always seemed to know when Phineas was lying.

__Stupid habit,__ He thought angrily as he quickly wolfed down the rest of his breakfast and rushed outside, Ferb trailing behind him.

As he prepared to ask the question he asked Ferb everyday, the sun rose over the trees, casting a beautiful glow over the yard, which was covered in morning dew. The dew sparkled when the light hit it; it reflected little bright dots all over the yard. It was like the yard was covered with tiny stars.

"Wow…" Phineas whispered, looking up at the pinkish-orange sky. "Beautiful day, huh, Ferb?"

"Yeah…" Ferb replied.

The two brothers sat down under the shade of the only tree in their backyard and watched as the sun rose, higher and higher, into the sky.

"Man, summer can't get any better than this," Phineas sighed happily as the clouds lazily drifted along the horizon. He put his arms behind his head and rested against the tree.

"Agreed." Ferb said as a butterfly landed on his hand.

"I wish summer would never end," Phineas said suddenly. "I wish it could go on, forever and ever, and we'd never grow up, and we'd always hang out together…"

Ferb just blinked as he watched the butterfly float up and land on a flower nearby. "But then there'd never be Christmas or Halloween," Ferb said.

"That's true…" Phineas sighed once again. "We can't stop time, that's impossible…but I guess that's life, huh?"

Ferb grinned and replied, "Yes. Yes it is."

"Hey, Ferb…" Phineas said. "I know what we're gonna do today."

"And what might that be?" Ferb asked as the butterfly took flight.

"We're gonna do nothing. Just…sit here and relax…how does that sound?"

"We do need a break," Ferb told him. "We've been going at it nonstop for the past few weeks…"

"Hey, remember when we did a do nothing day a few years ago?" Phineas snickered as he recalled that day when Candace had yelled at them because they were doing nothing.

__"Why are you doing nothing?! Now I have nothing to bust you about! Do something right now or I'll..."__ Candace's voice played in both of their heads and they laughed.

"Yeah. Candace was mad because she had nothing to 'bust' us about." Ferb chuckled.

Phineas just laughed. He laughed and laughed until he was crying, and Ferb laughed along too, and then the next thing they knew they were lying in the grass and gasping for breath as their sides were hurting painfully, but they just kept laughing.

"Hey…hey, Ferb…Ferb…" Phineas gasped.

"Ye…yes…?" Ferb choked.

"Ferb…I'm really…really, really glad you're my brother…" Phineas huffed.

Ferb closed his eyes and smiled. "Me too, Phin," He murmured. "Hey, Phin…why were we laughing again…?"

"Just go along with it, bro," Phineas yawned. "Just for the heck of it, that's why. Just to show this is the best summer we've ever had."

"Yeah…" Ferb agreed.

After lying down for a few more hours and just talking about summer and all of the adventures the two brothers had shared, it was eventually 9:00 and Phineas heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the fence gate.

"Phineas! I know what we're gonna do today!" The voice squealed joyfully.

Phineas immediately leaped up and nearly tripped racing over to the fence gate. He almost crashed headfirst into it but managed to stop himself by digging his heels into the grass, spraying up mud all over his shoes. Quickly, he fumbled with the latch on the gate and it swung open, revealing a young girl.

"H-hi, Shima!" Phineas managed to choke out as he caught his breath.

"Hi, Phineas!" She giggled. "Um…what happened? Did you turn the hose on or something…?"

"Um…no," Phineas said, clearly confused. Then, seeing Shima's expression, looked down at his mud covered shoes and burst into laughter.

Shima laughed along with him. "You're so silly sometimes, Phineas!"

After wiping the tears out of his eyes, Phineas looked at what Shima was wearing, and recognized the outfit at once. It was the dress she had worn when she had first met him, on that fateful summer day, five years ago. It was white with a black ribbon at the top, and the bottom had flowery lace imprinted on it. Around her neck hung a beautiful crystal star that seemed to glow with a soft light. Her dark-brown hair was tied with a little black ribbon as well, and it hung in a high ponytail. Two stray pieces of hair fell to her shoulders, and she wore black flip-flops with flowers on them. Her lavender eyes shone softly, and Phineas felt his cheeks flush up at the sight of her bright smile.

Shima happened to be Phineas' next door neighbor, and also his long-time crush.

"Shima…" He said.

"Phineas," She said as she took his hand and lead him into the yard (Phineas blushed profoundly), "Do you know what today is?"

"Hmm?" Phineas asked dreamily.

She turned around and took his other hand. "It's our anniversary, Phineas," She smiled. "It's been exactly five years since we first met."

Realization struck him like lightning; he had completely forgotten that today was their five-year anniversary. With all of the inventions they had been doing over the past week, the thought had slipped his mind completely.

"Oh…oh, Shima…" Phineas moaned, smacking his forehead with his hand. He cursed himself mentally for forgetting.

"Don't worry, Phineas. I'm sure you've been really busy. It's nothing…" She looked at him sadly.

"No, no! Shima, I…um…okay. What do you want to do today for our anniversary?"

Shima instantly cheered up. "Don't forget, it's Ferb's anniversary, too," She sang as she skipped over to Ferb, who was playing with a flower absentmindedly, and pulled him to his feet.

"Yup," Phineas nodded, amused, as Shima dragged Ferb over to him.

"Today, I was wondering…could we do a fireworks festival, Phineas?" She asked as she let go of Ferb's arm, who rubbed it until it turned red.

"Fireworks…festival?" Phineas asked.

"A fireworks festival is…well, the name kind of explains it already," Shima shrugged. "But a fireworks festival is a festival with…fireworks, obviously. They're celebrated in Japan and they're really, really fun. I went to one once. It was one of the best days I've ever had." Her eyes sparkled.

"Hmm…okay. So, what are we supposed to do, exactly?" Phineas questioned.

"Well, I'm sure you guys have been to a regular festival," She pointed out. "So, it's just like that, but we wear yukatas and at nighttime, we set off a whole bunch of fireworks," She cheered, clapping her hands together.

"Yu…yu-what?" Phineas repeated blankly.

"A yukata," Shima laughed, "is something people wear when going to a fireworks festival, which usually happen in the summer. For the more formal events, people wear kimonos. Obviously this is a more carefree event, so that's why we'll be wearing them!"

"Okay…" Ferb mused.

"Alright, then!" Phineas pumped his fist into the air enthusiastically. "Let's do this!"

A surge of joy spread through Shima's body like wildfire. Her friend was always willing to help her and support her, and because of this, she had come to really like him as more than just a best friend. As she tried to resist the urge to kiss him, she decided to just hug him instead.

"Thanks, Phineas," Shima hugged him (which caused him to nearly faint in happiness), "You're the best."

"And you too, Ferb!" As she went over to hug Ferb, Phineas felt his face return to its normal color.

__Okay,__ he thought happily as his heart felt like exploding fireworks, __this is going to be the best day-and anniversary-ever.__


	2. Memories

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter 2 is up! If you don't know what 'sweatdrop' means, well...it's hard to explain, so just look it up if you don't know. I don't think there's anything else, so...if you have any questions, just ask. I will be happy to answer them!**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Memories

"_No way…Perry?" _

Perry awoke from his morning nap with a jolt. He had just heard a strange, but familiar, voice.

Shaking himself to wake up, he headed into the backyard to find, as usual, another one of Phineas and Ferb's wacky inventions, or rather, in today's case, festivals.

"Okay…okay…stop!" Phineas called as Ferb had set down a large pole with his construction-working machine. Both he and Ferb were wearing hard hats, and in Phineas' hands were a large set of blueprints.

Perry padded over to Phineas and made his, well, platypus noise.

"_Grrrkkkkrrrr,_" He chattered, hoping his owner would notice him.

"Oh, there you are, Perry," Phineas smiled and leaned down to stroke his fur.

A loud noise came from Ferb's machine; he was moving another large pole with the crane. Phineas looked up and read over the blueprints. Shaking his head once, he called out to his brother again.

"No, no, Ferb, it's supposed to go over there," While Phineas was clearly distracted, Perry slipped into a nearby bush, which revealed a hidden chute. Standing up on his hind legs and putting his fedora on, Perry slid down the chute and disappeared into his secret underground base.

"Hey…where's Perry?" Phineas asked as he looked down and noticed his pet was clearly missing. He turned his attention back to Ferb and shouted, "That's good, Ferb! Thanks!"

Perry landed in his comfy red chair and turned on the huge monitor that was hanging on the wall over his head. An aged man with a unibrow and a white mustache appeared, wearing his green uniform with two large purple letters printed on the front of his chest that read MM.

"Good morning, Agent P," Major Monogram, Perry's boss, said. "Now, I know you have your anniversary with Shima today, but…we've investigated Dr. Doofenshmirtz's building and it seems that he is, quite strangely, doing absolutely _nothing _whatsoever. Of course, we find this to be a bit fishy, so we want you to go check it out. Of course, once you're done with that, you can go back to your…festivities."

Perry, or rather Agent P, saluted Monogram, and pressed a button. The back of his chair sprouted propellers, soared into the air, and out of the secret base.

"_Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated_," The familiar jingle played as the purple building came into view and Perry prepared himself for the worst.

* * *

><p>"Wow, Phineas! I just went to get a drink and you already have this much done? You are truly amazing." Shima gazed in awe at the many booths set up with little minigames that were scattered around the yard. The booths were many different colors; some that were red and yellow, blue and green, purple and orange, black and white, and many other combinations.<p>

Phineas (once again) blushed and said, "Oh, come on Shima, you know us. We can build stuff pretty quickly…" He looked down and played with his hands.

"Anyway, here," Shima said as she handed Phineas what looked like a dark-blue dress.

"Don't even say it, it's not a dress…it's more like robes," She interrupted Phineas even before he could open his mouth.

"I-I wasn't-" He stuttered.

Shima stuck out her tongue at him in a playful way. "Just kidding, Phineas," She giggled. "I knew you wouldn't say anything bad about any of this. Now…go try that on! It's actually really comfortable."

Phineas watched as she trotted over to Ferb, who was putting the finishing touches to the last minigame booth, and handed him a light-blue yukata.

Once again confused at her behavior, Phineas shrugged and went inside to change into his yukata.

* * *

><p>Perry arrived at the tall skyscraper and took the elevator. The song "I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun" played as elevator music when Perry finally reached his destination. The elevator doors opened, and Perry dashed to Doofenshmirtz's door and kicked it open with such a strong force the door almost swung right back into his face.<p>

"Oh, hello, Perry the Platypus," Greeted Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Perry's arch-enemy,

in his German accent, who, strangely, was just lying on a dark green couch. "So, today I woke up to the sun shining in my face and birds chirping…well, normally, I would just stick my head out the window and shout at them until they flew away, but today I just didn't."

Perry blinked at Doof's abnormal behavior. The mere fact that Doofenshmirtz hadn't trapped him yet made him even more confused.

"So, anyway, the sky was so beautiful and I just watched it for hours. Then I made Norm a cup of tea when he was actually supposed to be making _me_ one…hey, why are you looking at me like that, Perry the Platypus? I know it's weird, that's why I'm telling you about it. _So,_ I decided that I'd just be nice for a change, and now I feel so free! It might just be how I woke up; it was a wonderful feeling, really…"

Perry, deciding this was a waste of his time, headed toward the door he had just kicked open.

"Wait, wait, don't leave, Perry the Platypus! I want to show you a new inator I came up with…"

Perry immediately, on hearing the word 'inator', turned around, walked over to the couch, and crossed his blueberry arms expectantly.

"Okay, okay, Perry the Platypus, I will show you," Doof said as he got up and stretched. "Now, while I go and get my blueprints, I'll have Norm make you a cup of tea. Norm? Make Perry the Platypus a cup of tea, please, while I go fetch the blueprints…"

Norm, the robot, walked into the room holding a cup of tea on a silver platter.

"I like him much better now," He said in his robotic voice. "Would you rather have a cappuccino, Perry the Platypus?"

Perry shrugged, took the cup, and took a sip, hoping it wasn't some kind of poison.

Suddenly Norm beeped, and Perry leaped up, ready to spring into action at any moment.

"Sir, it's muffin time!" He called.

Perry sweatdropped.

"Ooh, yes, right on time!" Doofenshmirtz said as he walked into the room, holding a large amount of blueprints. "Bring some out for Perry too, will you?"

As Norm stomped away, Doof unrolled the blueprints and spread them out over the coffee table that sat a few feet away from the old couch.

"Look at my new invention," he said. "It is called…the Peace-Inator!"

This time, Perry smacked his forehead with his paw and growled.

"_Grrrkkkkrrrr…_"

"This machine, upon shooting someone, will make them extremely happy and peaceful," Doof said triumphantly. "I came up with it this morning, while I was watching the sunrise. I just felt so…_peaceful_. And thus, the Peace-Inator was born!"

Perry almost felt like jumping off the building at that moment. Sure, there were times when Doofenshmirtz had been so extremely stupid (like the times where he put a 'self-destruct' button on some of his inventions) that Perry wanted to smack him in the face, but this time, he had done so, well…Perry couldn't even find the word to use for this situation. He now had the strong urge to strangle Doof because of his stupidity.

Perry just let out a long moan. "_Grrrrrrkkkkrrrrrrrr….._"

"Muffin time, sir," Norm said as he walked in with a huge plate with different flavored muffins on it.

"Oh, thank you, Norm," Doof said as he grabbed a muffin and took a bite. "Mmm…chocolate! My favorite. Well done, Norm!" He chomped loudly.

"My pleasure, sir," Norm said as he offered Perry a blueberry muffin. "Muffin, Perry the Platypus?"

Sighing, Perry took the muffin and hesitantly nibbled it.

Perry's watch beeped, and he knew it was time to go. Giving Doofenshmirtz an annoyed look, he jumped out the window and flew towards his house with a jetpack.

Doof blinked. "Did I annoy him too much, Norm?" He asked as he chewed his muffin.

"Yes. Yes you did."

* * *

><p><em>A 10-year-old Phineas was sitting at the breakfast table next to 11-year old Ferb eating cereal, when their dad walked in, looking quite cheerful. "Good morning, boys," He said with a big grin. "It seems we have a new next-door-neighbor. You should go and introduce yourselves."<em>

"_A new next-door-neighbor?" Phineas asked excitedly in his squeaky 10-year-old voice. "That's awesome! We should go right now, Ferb! Come on!" He dragged his step-brother out of his chair and then they were off, running at full speed towards the front door of the house._

"_Be nice!" Their dad called as they sped out of the house and down the sidewalk._

_Meanwhile, a 10-year-old girl in a white dress stepped out of her house, her black flip-flops tapping the doorstep to a beat, when suddenly out of the corner of her eye two boys came hurtling down the sidewalk._

"_Whoa whoa whoaaa!" A red-haired boy yelped as he skidded to a stop and tripped, landing flat on his face, his green-haired brother managing to stop before crashing into him._

_Letting out a yelp of alarm, the girl ran down her front steps and over to the boy who had a large scratch on his face._

"_Ow…oww…" He moaned. "Ferb, that hurt…" He whined, tears forming in his eyes._

"_You should be more careful," The other boy said in a concerned tone._

"_Are…are you alright?" The girl called from her position a few yards away. She was nervously shifting back and forth, and finally she came to the decision that she had to help._

"_Wow…" The red-head breathed. "Ferb, who's that?" _

"_Apparently, she's our new next-door-neighbor," He replied quietly._

"_You okay?" She asked, huffing as she pulled the boy to his feet._

_He just stared at her, mouth gaping. His brother nudged him, snapping him back into reality._

"_I'm f-fine," He managed to say. "Um…who are you?"_

"_I'm Shima," The girl said, smiling sweetly. "I live over there." She pointed to a lavender house._

"_Phineas…I'm Phineas," The red-head said, mesmerized._

"_Ferb…" The green-haired boy murmured._

"_Nice to meet you!" She giggled. "Where do you guys live?"_

"_Over there," Phineas pointed to the yellow house next to Shima's. "I think we're neighbors now."_

"_Wow, that's great!" Shima chirped. "I hope we'll be able to become good friends."_

"_I'm sure we will," Phineas muttered under his breath, smiling. There was a strange sensation bubbling inside of him that he had never felt before. He couldn't name this feeling, but it made him feel a bit queasy._

"…_.eas….ineas…Phineas. Phineas!_"

Upon hearing Shima's voice, Phineas' eyes snapped open.

"Are you alright?" She asked him. "You looked like you were zoning out…by the way, you look great in your yukata."

Looking down at the dark-blue robes, he smiled. Bright red fish were at the bottom, jumping out of water, and many swirls of orange and red covered the bottom and sleeves of his yukata. He had also changed his shoes; he was now wearing weird sandals that were hard to walk in, but he had gotten quite used to it.

"Thanks," He replied, blushing slightly.

"So…what were you thinking about?" Shima bent down to pull out a loose thread and looked up at him expectantly.

Phineas shook his head, and the memory cleared. "I was just…thinking about the first time we met."

"Oh yeah," Shima snickered as she stood up again. "Remember when you crashed face-first into the sidewalk? And…and then you had a huge scratch on your face?" Her eyes widened, and realizing what she had just said, slapped a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah. Of course, you'd remember _that_ part…" Phineas muttered with a disapproving look on his face.

"Oh, come on, Phineas, you know it was funny," Shima whined.

"Yeah…I guess it was pretty funny." Phineas smiled slightly at the thought of face-planting into the sidewalk.

"_Grrrrrkkrrrrrr_." Both Shima and Phineas looked down to see Perry sitting there, watching them both with his weirdly opposite eyes.

"Oh. There you are, Perry." They both said at the same time.

Shima sat down and began to pet the monotreme, but he leaped into her lap and closed his eyes. "_Grrrkrrrr._" She smiled.

"Man, Shima, I think Perry really likes you," Phineas said.

"You think?" She laughed.

_Perry was about to go down another chute that lead to his secret base when suddenly a familiar voice drifted down the hall._

"_Bow chika bow-wow, that's what my baby says…" The voice sang._

_A girl showed up in front of him. Perry stared at her, and she stared right back. This went on for several minutes until the girl finally worked up the courage to say, "No way…Perry?"_

_Perry blinked in surprise. How weird was it to see a girl you already knew, but she was from a whole different dimension entirely?_

_And then the memories flowed back to him: Once, Phineas and Ferb had created a portal that lead to other dimensions, and Perry happened to accidently fall through, closing the portal and leaving him in a separate dimension, away from his owners. After several weeks of trying to get back home with no luck, Perry stumbled across a young girl with dark-brown hair and lavender eyes. After telling her his life story and explaining the difficult situation he was stuck in, the girl agreed to help him out. Eventually he was back home again, but he knew he'd never forget that girl, and she'd never forget him, either._

_And now she was standing right in front of him, lavender eyes shining with confusion, and Perry knew what he had to do. He ran up to her and hugged her legs, saying happily, _

"_Grrrrkkrrrrr!" _

"_Perry!" The girl said. She leaned down and hugged him back. "Who knew I'd find you here? How are you? It's been a long time, hasn't it?"_

"_Grrrrkrrr!" Perry nodded._

"_It's great to see you again," She smiled. "Well, I'll be in this dimension for a while, so you can say hello whenever you want."_

_Perry smiled. "Grrrrkrrrr." He pointed to the hidden chute in the wall._

"_Oh, okay," She said. "You have to go and fight Doof, huh? Well, good luck, Agent P."_

_Perry saluted her and, once again, prepared to travel to his secret base. Placing his paw on the wall, a robotic voice said, "DNA Data: Complete. ID: Perry the Platypus. Enter." Perry was then sucked down a long tube that led to his underground base._

_Upon landing in his chair, however, the screen turned on and a panic-stricken Monogram appeared._

"_Agent P, we just discovered a girl in this household knows your secret identity, and-" Major Monogram was cut off when Perry glared at him and folded his arms._

"_What?! You want me to allow her to keep her memories? Are you serious?" Perry's boss exclaimed, his eyes wide. Perry simply rolled his eyes and chattered, pointing a finger at Monogram and trying to explain the situation. After a few minutes of confusion and Carl translating Perry's experiences in Shima's dimension to a very perplexed Monogram, he finally gave in._

"_Oh, all right," He sighed. "She does seem trustworthy…we've read her profile and she seems innocent enough. But she can not tell anyone, okay? That is extremely important."_

_Perry nodded and headed off to Doof's as usual._

"Hey, Shima…aren't you gonna put on your…yu-yukana or whatever?" Phineas asked, snapping Perry out of his daydream.

He opened his eyes and shoved the memory away.

"Yes, I will when the time comes," Shima picked up Perry and set him on the grass. "I want to try some of your minigames first. And, Phineas…it's pronounced_ yukata_…you-kah-tah."

"You-kah-tah…you-kah-tah. Yu-kah-tah. Yu-ka-ta. Yukata." Phineas repeated the word to himself several times before following Shima over to a red-and-yellow striped minigame booth.

Footsteps sounded on the sidewalk nearby, a girl with jet black hair hummed happily to herself as she thought of seeing her best friend and crush.

Seeing the wooden gate open, she became curious. Today she was wearing a vibrant pink hoodie with white pants and her normal purple belt. Her hair was down and tied with a pink bow, giving her a childish look, but she didn't mind. The cuter she looked, the better. Peeking inside, she saw many booths with a variety of minigames around the yard. She knew that this was the work of her best friends, Phineas and Ferb, and she walked inside and looked around for familiar red or green hair, but saw nothing.

"Phineas? Ferb?" She called, her voice oddly echoing across the yard.

"Oh, hey, Isabella!" Phineas peeked out from behind a booth, wearing what looked like a dress. It was dark-blue and had red fish on it. On his feet were strange looking sandals.

"Hey, Phineas," She cooed sweetly, putting her hands behind her back and swaying from side to side slightly. "Whatcha' doin'?"

"We're making a fireworks festival!" Phineas glanced down and clicked a few buttons on a controller that seemed to be connected to the booth.

Isabella skipped over to him, "Fireworks festival? What's that for?"

"Oh, it's for-"

"Alright! I won! I beat you, Phineas, I beat you!" Shima poked her head out from the other side of the booth. "Oh, hi, Isabella!"

"S-Shima?" Surprise was clearly etched on Isabella's face as she looked at her 'rival'.

Shima, in every way, always seemed perfect to Isabella, because every time she saw Shima she saw Phineas too. They always hung out together, and that made Isabella not just mad but miserable as well. Shima had the good looks, the sweetness, the smartness, and everything else in between. She was just…perfect. She never made mistakes and nobody was ever mad at her. Nothing Isabella did ever impressed Phineas, because Shima would impress him first. Even when she dropped obvious hints to Phineas, he still never understood. He was always oblivious to Isabella's feelings. At first she wasn't too keen on letting Shima join in with the boys' inventions, but over the years they had become best friends. Even though that was the truth in every way, Isabella still felt a bit jealous whenever Shima was around her crush. Of course, though, she could never do anything about it.

"We were just testing some of the minigames Ferb made," Shima put down her controller and went over to hug Isabella. "That's right, Izzie, today's our anniversary too!" She squealed in delight.

"A-anniversary?" Isabella stammered while Shima was squeezing the air out of her lungs.

"That's right," Phineas pulled Shima off of Izzie, allowing her to breathe. "It's been exactly five years since we all met Shima, so today we're celebrating."

"Oh…" Isabella's anger faded away as she looked at her best friend. She couldn't be angry at her now; no, she _wouldn't_ be angry at her now. Not today.

"Where's Ferb?" She questioned, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, Ferb? He's just getting the fireworks." Phineas looked at his feet and tapped them.

"By the way, Phineas…what are you wearing?" Isabella thought he looked cute, but she didn't understand why he'd wear something like that.

"It's a yukata," Shima explained. "We wear them when attending a summer festival in Japan…which means we'll be wearing yukatas too, Izzie. And of course, to complete the look, we'll also wear those Japanese sandals. Everyone wears them."

"Can't you guys go put yours on? Please?" Phineas begged. "I want to see what you look like in them, and, well, I feel weird being the only one dressed like this." His hands balled up into fists at his sides.

"I told you, Phin, we'll put them on when we're ready," Shima puffed up her cheeks and looked sarcastically angry.

"Fine…" He muttered. But he really did look forward to seeing the girls dressed up- Japanese style.

"I got the fireworks," They heard Ferb say in his British accent.

They turned around to see Ferb holding a huge box of fireworks that you could customize to make them look like whatever you wanted them to. Ferb was also dressed in his yukata; it was light blue with similar patterns on it like Phineas', but instead of red fish and orange swirls he had green lizards and yellow zigzags on his.

"Awesome, we'll totally have to tweak those," Phineas gave Ferb a thumbs-up.

"Ooh! I love your yukata, Ferb!" Isabella complimented.

"Nice touch, Shima," Phineas approved. "You did a really good job."

Blushing, Shima laughed and murmured her thanks.

* * *

><p>"<em>La-la-la-la-la...la-la-la-la-la-la-..."A 10-year old Isabella sang as she skipped down the sidewalk to Phineas and Ferb's house.<em>

_A bit further down the road, three kids were walking back to their houses._

"_So, Shima, did you just move here?" Isabella heard a familiar voice, and she looked around until she spotted a red haired boy and his silent brother, walking with a girl about Isabella's age with dark-brown hair and lavender eyes._

_Instantly Isabella's mind roared with rage at the thought of seeing her biggest crush talking to another girl besides her._

_She stomped over to them, gave the girl a fierce glare, and said with her voice coated with sugar, "Hey, Phineas. Whatcha' doin'?"_

"_Oh, hey, Isabella. We were just hanging out with our new next-door-neighbor."_

_The new girl smiled shyly and put her hands behind her back, edging closer to Phineas._

"_N-next-door-neighbor?!" Isabella whined._

"_Yeah," Phineas said, confused with her strange behavior. "Her name's Shima. She's really nice."_

"_Oh, but I'm nice too, right, Phineas?" She practically begged him to say yes. She gave Phineas the puppy-dog eyes. _

"_Yes. Yes you are," Ferb said, and, as usual, this comment was almost inaudible._

"_Hi. I'm Shima…and you are?" The new girl asked, stepping forward and holding out her hand._

"_Isabella." She gritted her teeth, shaking it stiffly._

"_Are you okay, Isabella? You don't look like yourself," Phineas looked at her worriedly._

"_Um…no!" A thought popped into her mind and she improvised looking sick. "I'm so…so sick!" She collapsed and Phineas caught her just before she hit the sidewalk._

"_Isabella!" Phineas cried. "Are you okay?"_

"_No…I need you to make me feel better, Phineas…" She moaned. Inside her head, she thought, __**I'm such a great actress! Nice way to get Phineas away from that girl, Izzie! **__She complimented herself._

"_Okay. Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today! We're gonna help Isabella feel better!"_

"_Roger," Ferb saluted his brother and raced home._

"_Is she alright?" Shima asked with a concerned expression, leaning over to see Isabella's condition._

"_I think so. How are you feeling, Isabella?"_

"_Um…" Being so close to Phineas made her heart beat double-time. "I'm starting to feel better. Maybe 'cause you're here with me, Phineas!"_

"_Or maybe you just had a dizzy spell," Phineas suggested. "Hold on, I'm gonna go tell Ferb, okay? Can you stand up?"_

_**Ugh! Oblivious as usual!**__ She thought angrily as Phineas helped her to her feet. He held her hand to steady her. She pretended to wobble for a moment, and then she stood up straight._

"_I think I'm okay," She squeaked, refusing to let go of Phineas' hand when he tried to pull away._

"'_Kay, I'm gonna go let Ferb know," Phineas looked confused as he yanked his hand away and ran towards his house._

"_You didn't have to do that, you know." A timid voice came from behind her, and she realized it was the new girl's. _

"_W-what?" Isabella stammered._

"_It's obvious you like him. The way you look at him and talk to him…you're a pretty good actress, by the way," She said. "But you don't have to worry, Isabella. I'm not gonna steal him. He's all yours. So…don't get all exasperated, okay?"_

_"But...you were getting really close to him when I came over!" Izzie frowned._

_"Oh...I'm just shy, that's all. But once I meet a person, I warm up to them real fast." She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "So don't freak out...I don't like him, alright? And I just met him, for goodness sake."_

_Blinking in surprise, Isabella nodded. "Okay."_

_**A year later…**_

"_Shima! I thought you said you didn't like Phineas!" Isabella shouted angrily at her friend, who was shuffling her shoes as she began to feel more and more pressured. _

"_I didn't at first," Shima retorted. "But now I realize I do. And I realize I've liked him since the beginning."_

"_Bu-but you said…"_

"_I'm really sorry, Isabella," Shima apologized. "But there's nothing you can do to change my feelings."_

_She began to walk back towards her house before turning around quickly and muttering, "And I'm not gonna act like a sugar princess like you do."_

_Before Isabella could react she spun around and charged towards her house._

"Izzie…Izzie!" She opened her eyes to see that Shima was shaking her shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yea…yeah," She murmured, puzzled as to why she had remembered those two days out of any others she had spent with Shima.

"Okay, then," Phineas chirped, "Let's start fixing up those fireworks."

Ferb had set the box down and pulled out a few. He pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and examined the firework curiously.

Then Perry appeared seemingly out of nowhere and sat down in the grass near Phineas.

"Oh, there you are, Perry," Phineas said.

"Hey, guys…thanks for everything you've done for me so far, really," Shima thanked them, dipping her head and looking slightly embarrassed.

"No prob," The rest of them said together.

After noticing that they had all said this at the same time, they laughed as Phineas and Ferb began to mess with the fireworks.

_The memory of this day will last forever, _Shima thought happily. _Thanks, everyone…I'll never forget this day. Never!_


	3. Mysterious Past

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter 3, ready to go! It's a bit confusing, but...just read it. Everything else will be explained in later chapters. Again: Just ask me if you're confused about something. I'm not gonna be mad at you, I promise. :) Anyway, enjoy!**

**Phineas: I'm confused at what I do in this chapter.**

**Shima: Me too. I guess the author was confused at what to do at that part...**

**Shi: Don't spoil it! And it's true. I had no idea what to do for this chapter. *Shrugs* Okay, roll chappy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

Mysterious Past

After fixing the fireworks (which only took less than 10 minutes), Phineas, Ferb, Shima, and Isabella were all lying down in the grass and watching the clouds go by. They all lay in a circle, starting with Shima, to Phineas, to Ferb, to Isabella, and then back to Shima again. Their heads were quite close to each other as they 'cloud-gazed'.

"It's only 1:00…what are we supposed to do until it's time to set off the fireworks?" Isabella yawned as she twirled a piece of grass between her index finger and thumb, one hand behind her head.

"Well, don't forget about the festival part," Phineas commented, both of his hands behind his head as he watched a cloud shaped like a platypus drift past. "Everyone's coming."

"Yep! We'll eat yummy food and play games until it's time to get the fireworks started," Shima added as she looked at a cloud shaped like a mouse.

"That one looks like a giant floating baby head," Ferb pointed at a giant floating baby head-shaped cloud as he began to fiddle with his hair with his other hand.

"That one looks like my bow," Isabella giggled as she spotted a cloud shaped like her pink bow. Dropping the piece of grass and lifting her hand up, she twinged a side of the bow with her fingers.

"That one looks like…" Shima trailed off as a weirdly shaped cloud floated past. Her eyes shimmered with sadness.

"What's up, Shima?" Phineas asked her as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"It looks like one of my old friends," She whispered as she pictured one of her closest friends, and imagined him saying, _"We've got to train you, Shima. You have to get stronger. That way, I don't always have to protect you."_ She sighed once again as she pictured the golden-furred creature stating, _"You have unbelievable power, Shima. You're more powerful than I am…"_

"That's right…you moved here, right, Shima? So, where did you move from?" Phineas asked, curious about Shima's previous life before she had moved in next-door.

Shima opened her eyes, glared at the sky, and muttered, "I don't like talking about my past, Phin," She sounded offended.

Noticing her change of tone, Phineas looked over at her in alarm. She looked quite angry, which was strange, because she was never usually angry.

"S-sorry," Phineas said, surprised at why she'd be so protective about her past. Phineas couldn't help his curiosity; Shima had never mentioned it so he had no idea of what it was like.

Looking over and seeing Phineas' worried expression, Shima quickly said, "No, I'm sorry, Phineas. I just don't like talking about what happened before I got here…you understand that, right?" _I'm so sorry,_ she thought sadly. _But if I told you, Phin, I know you'd leave me. _When she thought about this, tears began to form in her eyes. She rubbed them away, hoping that her friends hadn't noticed her brief moment of distress.

"Sh…Shima...?" Phineas poked her. "You okay?"

"I'm f-fine," She stuttered, rolling over away from Phineas.

"So! Um…how bout' we all talk about, um…our pets or something?" Isabella offered, trying to change the subject. She didn't want to see her friends stressed on their anniversary.

"Now that I think about it, Perry always disappears during the day," Ferb followed suit with Isabella's idea, glancing at his pet platypus, who was taking a nap under the shade of the big tree in their yard.

"So does Pinky. Even though he seems like a normal Chihuahua, I have a feeling that he's up to something. Maybe he goes with Perry somewhere, because they both seem to go missing at the same time during the day. Or maybe that's just my imagination. But they both do disappear a lot…I wonder where they go?" Isabella babbled, trying to get her friends to join the conversation.

"Hmm…I've always wondered where Perry goes. Maybe that's what we should do tomorrow. Find out where Perry runs off to all the time. Hey, Shima, do you have any idea on where Perry goes during the day?" Phineas asked as he looked at the sleeping, mindless platypus he owned, wondering if there were secrets behind that empty stare.

"Nope, no idea whatsoever," Shima responded a bit too quickly. She wasn't going to let them find out about Perry's secret identity as an agent. Unfortunately, however, she had said this remark too fast, so it seemed very suspicious to Isabella.

Isabella smirked and held up a finger. "From the way you just said that, _Shi Shi_, it sounds like you _do_ know something," Saying Shima's nickname bothered her, so Isabella knew she had hit the jackpot.

"I-I t-told you n-not to call m-me that!" Shima sat up, her face beet red as she glared at her friend.

"Sh…Shi Shi?" Phineas sat up too and bit his lip, trying not to laugh.

With a quick glance at Phineas' expression, Shima became extremely embarrassed. _Why...of all things you could have said, you brought _that_ up. Out of all the things you could have said..._ Rage bubbled in the pit of her stomach. _I'm so embarrassed!_ Then she decided to do something rash.

"_Isabella Garcia Shapiro!_" Shima suddenly shouted, leaping on top of her friend.

"Aaah! Stop it, _stop it_, stoooop-_aaaaah!_" Isabella hysterically laughed as Shima had pinned her down and was now tickling her sides.

Phineas burst into laughter as he watched them, and Shima was giving Isabella no mercy.

"P-Phineas! He-_heeelp!_" Izzie cried, tears forming in her eyes because Shima was now tickling her harder. Shima snickered as she watched her friend begin to panic.

_That's what you get for calling me Shi Shi, _She thought as Isabella struggled against her grasp. She had her wrists pinned down and Isabella was desperately trying to pry them off, but with no luck. _My fault, really, for letting that slip...I shouldn't have told her my nickname...and anyway,_ _only one person can call me that...and that one person is-_

"N-no way! This is hilarious!" Phineas interrupted her thoughts and was now rolling in the grass and laughing as hard as Isabella was. Even Ferb was trying his hardest not to laugh, he had cupped his hands over his mouth and his eyes were squeezed shut.

"Stop! Stop! _Shiiiiimaaaaa!_" Isabella screamed, now trying to kick her way out.

"Nope! Not until you promise not to call me that ever again, Izzie!" Shima teased, easily dodging Isabella's frantic kicks.

"Somebody, _heeeeeeelllllllllllllp-_" Izzie was cut off abruptly as there was a loud noise coming from inside the house.

"_What_ is going on out here?!" The back door opened, and Candace stepped out, looking extremely angry.

Shima stopped tickling Isabella, who was clutching her sides, her breath coming in harsh gasps. Phineas and Ferb stopped laughing too, and looked up at their sister, guilty looks written on both of their faces.

"So, I was _trying_ to take a nap, because I was up all morning doing paperwork for _my_ wedding," She snarled, "And then I hear loud _screaming _coming from the backyard. I thought that one of you was hurt. But I guess I was _wrong_." Candace was now breathing like a locomotive and her eyes were slits. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides. She looked like a snake.

"Wow, sorry, Candace," Phineas apologized, ashamed for bothering his sister. "We were just having some fun."

Eyes widening, Candace's gaze swept across the yard. "What's up with all the booths?" She looked at Phineas and Ferb's clothing and her jaw dropped. "And what are you _wearing?_"

"We're having a fireworks festival tonight," Ferb said casually. "We're wearing yukatas. It's Japanese traditions to wear these to fireworks festivals."

"Wha…what?! I am _so_ telling Mom!" Candace shrieked, putting her hands on her hips.

"But…but Candace…" Phineas looked at his sister sadly. "Today's our anniversary…"

"Wait…anniversary for what?" Candace demanded.

"It's been five years since we met Shima…we wanted to celebrate…"

"You wouldn't ruin that for us, would you, Candace?" Ferb asked, trying to sound innocent as possible.

"What? Of course I wou…" She trailed off as she saw the look on Phineas' face.

"…Oh, _fine_! Go and have your stupid…festival or whatever." Then she stormed back into the house, angry because every time her little brother had given her that look, she could not resist into letting him get away with what he was doing.

"Nice one, Phin," Shima remarked as Isabella was struggling to breathe. Shima still had her arms pinned down.

"What did I do?" He asked.

"Nevermind…now, where was I?" Shima said as she looked down at Isabella, whose eyes had now contracted with fear, and she started to struggle again.

"N-no! Please…no more tickling…" Isabella panted. "Okay, I promise I won't call you that again. Now can you _please_ let me go?"

"If I have to..." Shima sighed, letting go of Isabella's arms. Izzie rubbed them, a look of pain etched across her face.

"Hmm..." Phineas smirked, as he had just thought of something. He knew it wasn't a good idea, but if he wanted to get some information out of Shima, he'd do it. _But she'll be mad at you..._a voice nagged him. _I know,_ he thought guiltily, _but I need to know something..._

"Hey, Shima...come here for a sec," Phineas beckoned her over, finally caving in to that annoying voice in the back of his head. Shima crawled over on her hands and knees and sat up, gazing at him suspiciously. Once she was sitting next to him, Phineas took his opportunity.

"Gotcha!" He cried triumphantly as he pinned Shima down the same way she had done to Isabella.

"Phineas, what are you-_ah!_" Phineas began to tickle Shima.

"Eeek! _Eeeek!_ Stop it, Phineas! _Stoooop!_" She clenched her teeth, trying not to laugh.

"Okay, why are your parents never home and why have we never met them before? Tell me!" He coaxed, tickling her harder.

"N-nooo! _Phineas!_" She wailed.

"Okay then, where did you live before you moved to Danville?" Phineas questioned again, and Shima just wailed louder.

"I-I won't tell! _Stop it_, Phineas! Eeeek!" She began to struggle. Phineas had a hard time keeping her down. She was pretty strong for a girl. A guilty feeling washed over Phineas, but he was not going to stop now, no, not until he got some answers.

"Phin, I really don't think that's necessary," Ferb said quietly.

"Why won't you tell me, Shima? I'm your best friend!" Phineas whined, ignoring his brother. _I want to know. Just tell me, and I won't have to do this to you ever again. _His stomach began to hurt. It happened whenever he was feeling large amounts of pure guilt, nothing else. _Stop it. Can't you hear her? Stop it. Let her go._ The voice at the back of his head begged.

"I c-can't tell you! Stooop! _Stooooooop!_" Shima was practically screaming now.

"Phineas, cut it out!" Isabella pleaded. "This is _not_ the way to ask a girl questions, you know!"

"Be quiet, Izzie," Phineas snapped. His desire to know why Shima had never told him these things grew stronger, though every inch of his body was objecting to his actions. _Let her go! Quit it! Leave her alone!_ "I need to know why she won't tell me anything."

"Phineas! _Phineas!_ Please..._stooop!_" Shima begged, eyes now watering.

"If you tell me, I'll stop," Phineas was beginning to regret his decision. The voice inside his head screamed, _Let her go! Let her go now!_

"_Knock it off, Phineas!_" Ferb growled.

Shocked at what his brother had just said to him, Phineas blinked, snapped out of his trance, and his hands dropped to his sides. He looked down at Shima, who's eyes were shut tightly and teeth gritted, and she looked like she was in serious pain. Her necklace was glowing...wait. _Glowing?_

"_Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!_" Shima shrieked, and suddenly her necklace began to shine brightly. Then the only thing Phineas could see was white light, and he shouted as he felt the sensation of being thrown overcome his body.

When Phineas opened his eyes, he found himself in the tree, hanging on a branch. About ten feet away lay Shima; her eyes were closed, she was panting and her necklace was glowing eerily. Below him was Ferb. He was upside-down, head on the grass and arms spread out awkwardly. His legs were up, leaning against the tree trunk. He seemed to be unconscious. Isabella was slumped up against the fence; she was awake, but dazed. Perry was on his back next to her, looking genuinely surprised.

Trying to get over the sense of fear that was bugging him, Phineas carefully made his way down the tree and dashed over to Shima.

"Shima..." He panted. He grabbed her shoulders and began to shake them violently, trying to wake her up. "Shima, please wake up. Please wake up..."

Eyes fluttering, Shima slowly opened her eyes. They looked dark and troubled.

"Phineas...?" She whispered. "What happened...?"

"I don't know..." Phineas admitted, letting go of her shoulders and breathing a sigh of relief. "There was a white light, and...oh, Shima, I'm so sorry for doing that...it just hurts me, you know? Not knowing everything about my best friend...and, well...I was kind of in a trance..."

Shima shook her head. "Don't," She muttered. "It doesn't matter. I'm sorry, Phineas...but if I told you about my past, I don't know if you'd believe me or not...and anyway..." Her voice trailed off, and Phineas had to lean towards her to hear what she whispered next, "I promised someone not to tell anybody about it..."

Phineas nodded. He wouldn't pester her anymore. Even though he was curious about that 'someone' she had just mentioned, he could tell that she really didn't want to talk about it.

"But...what happened? What was that light, Shima? And...and why was your necklace glowing?" Phineas asked nervously. He didn't want to bother her, but he knew that she knew that these questions were unavoidable, because it had just happened before their eyes.

"I don't know what that light was," Shima's eyelids lowered and her eyes darted to the side. Phineas guessed that she was lying, but he wouldn't ask if she didn't want him to know. "My necklace...it does that sometimes...I don't really know why, though." _Lying. Again._ Phineas thought to himself, annoyed.

Sighing, Phineas leaned back and sat on his haunches. His legs spread out in front of him, shoes touching, butterfly style. His hands were balled up into fists, tearing up the grass. His eyes widened as he realized something. Scrambling to his feet, he raced over to Ferb, who was now stirring, and helped him up.

"You okay, Ferb?" Phineas steadied his brother, who's balance didn't seem to be quite accurate at the moment.

"M'fine," Ferb mumbled, staggering slightly.

Phineas helped his brother back over to the tree and let him lean against it. Then, he went to check on Isabella. Before reaching her, however, he spotted Perry, who was lying on his back and looking confused, so Phineas bent down and flipped him over.

"_Grrrrrkkkkrrrrrr?_" Perry chattered as Phineas ran over to Isabella.

"Izzie?" He waved a hand in front of her face. "You alive, Izzie?"

"I'm alive," She looked up at him, her eyes unfocused.

"'Kay, lemme help you up," Phineas grasped her wrist and pulled her to her feet. She leaned on his shoulder, almost falling over again.

"What happened...?"

"I have no idea," Phineas replied, helping her over to Shima, who had gotten up and was looking confused as ever. Her eyes flashed as she recalled a buried memory that she didn't want to remember.

_The rain was pounding down as lightning flashed across the sky, revealing the outline of an enormous beast, red eyes piercing his enemies that were 40 feet below him. He let out a ferocious roar; white, sharp teeth glinting when the periodic lightning strikes struck. The blood-red diamond on his chest glowed menacingly, along with the all of the other red spikes and armored silver steel that protruded out of its body at random angles. It was a mess, truth to be told. _

_Below the dragon-like creature, a girl had fallen to her knees, gasping for breath. Her crystal necklace glimmered with a soft lavender light, showing her tired-looking face. Hair windswept and clothes caked with mud, she let out an cry of agony._

_"RP, what are we supposed to do?" She groaned as she held herself up with her white staff. It looked like a cross, with an enormous crystal star in the center that gleamed with the colors of the stars in the night sky, which were momentarily covered by thick rainclouds. The end of the staff was wrapped with black bandages, which were now stained with blood. Thunder rumbled overhead, shaking the ground and causing the girl to tremble. She glanced at her lifetime partner and best friend, who was pawing at the ground anxiously, sending up amounts of dirt over his matted, golden fur._

_"I don't know," He growled as his tail lashed from side to side. He looked absolutely furious. "I didn't expect him to grow twice his size! Forty feet, are you __**kidding**__ me?" He snarled._

_RP began to pace back and forth, occasionally casting glances at the monster who was roaring as loud at the crashing thunder and who was also slowly gaining on them. As big as the dragon was now, it wasn't as easy to chase after someone when you were twice your normal size. He had grown from seventeen feet to forty within a week, and that normally took a lot of power to do. He wasn't exactly as motivated as he would usually be. He was quite worn out. But he needed power, and the girl who sat what seemed a mile away had the power he wanted so badly._

_"Okay, we have a bit of time before he catches up to us..." RP felt panic rising, making his fur feel uncomfortably warm. "Okay, Shima, you need to get out of here. It's not safe anymore." RP ordered, trying to push her away from the dragon, who was moving forward as slow as ever._

_"B-but...where am I gonna go? He __**will **__catch up to me sooner or later." She pointed a finger at the monstrosity who was sending trees crashing down with every little step he took. _

_She stumbled as RP pushed her further and further away from the deafening booms._

_"Well, you can't stay here, that's for sure," RP glimpsed the dragon trying to chase after them, red eyes gleaming with pure hatred and fury._

_The wind was howling in their ears as they ran as fast as they possibly could away from their pursuer._

_"Travel the dimensions." RP said suddenly, pitch black eyes shimmering happily as he had just thought of something that would finally keep his partner safe. _

_"Travel the...the what?!" Shima gave him a look of disbelief and bewilderment._

_"The __**dimensions**__," RP repeated. "He'll surely find you if you stay in our world, but if you go to __**another**__ world..."_

_"...He won't have an easy time trying to track me down again," Shima finished._

_"He doesn't care about us or our powers, Shima. He only wants yours."_

_"..." The girl didn't say anything as the rain poured down even harder. They were still running for their lives, not to mention the fact that they were completely covered in mud and dirt._

_"No. I won't." She stated, stopped abruptly. "I can't leave you guys...and RP, what if I never see you again? I don't know what I'd do if that ever happened." She shivered. The rain was ice cold, but that wasn't the reason a chill had just crept up her spine._

_"But you have to. It's for your own safety." RP said, eyes wide as Shima looked like she was going to break down at any giving moment. _

_"B-b-but RP..." Shima choked, tears now sliding down her face._

_RP shook his head hopelessly. "There's nothing you can do to change my mind. I have to protect you, and if it means we'll be separated, I'll do it."_

_"N-n-n-n-no..." Shima blubbered, tears now flowing freely._

_"I care about you, Shima," RP said sadly. "And if you ever got hurt, well...I don't know what I'd do. So this is why you have to go. So I can protect you...don't you understand? You'll be safe at last, and I won't have to worry anymore." Saying goodbye to his closest friend made his heart ache, but he knew he'd have to let her go._

_"R-R-RP...RP..." She sobbed._

_"Go on, you. Scram." He smiled, his voice full of amusement. "I'm sure we'll meet again, Shima. I'm absolutely positive we'll see each other again."_

_With a flick of his tail, a portal opened up behind her, and she began to wail. "RP, don't!"_

_"Please go. He's catching up." RP begged, hoping that she'd listen._

_"..." Giving her best friend one last, hopeless look, she took a step backwards and disappeared into thin air, the portal vanishing with her._

_"Good luck..." RP murmured. "May we meet again, Shima Hoshi."_

Shima opened her eyes, discovering that they were wet. It seemed like time had frozen; Phineas was still making his way over to her, Isabella leaning on his shoulder, looking frail.

RP's last words echoed in her head.

_Good luck...May we meet again, Shima Hoshi. _


	4. Secrets and Lies

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter 4 is up (finally)! There's also cover art for this story on deviant art, just search up the username: Shimasteam2112 and you should find it. I worked quite hard on it, so I hope you all enjoy :) This chapter is less confusing than the last one (the last one I had no idea what to do, but I continued and it's better than the last chapter...okay, let me explain: RP is one of Shima's best friends. He's an animal-like creature, as you have probably guessed already. Now, why did I make Phineas tickle Shima? He just wanted some answers, that's all. And as to why Shima's necklace exploded in a fiery spiral of doom, (not really) that strange event will be revealed later. The big dragon guy...well, I'll introduce him later. That's all I'm telling you for now ;D). So, read and review, and also ask questions if you need to! Enjoy!**

**Phineas: -smirks- I like this Chapter.**

**Shima: -blushes-**

**Shi: This...is awkward.**

**Ferb:...**

**Isabella: Well, I DON'T like this chapter.**

**Candace: What? I don't get it.**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Lies and Secrets

After the commotion with Shima's necklace going out of whack, the four teenagers headed inside to cool off for a little while.

"Lemonade, anyone?" Phineas asked as walked into the kitchen and pulled a lemonade pitcher out of the fridge.

"Sure, thanks," The other three said.

Ferb was lying on the couch, still a bit out of it. He hadn't taken the blow so well as the others had. Isabella was sitting at the table, fanning herself with the boys' dad's newspaper and letting out a huge yawn. Lawrence's cup of coffee, which was probably cold by that time, was still there as well. Shima was sitting next to Izzie, fingers drumming the table absentmindedly, humming to herself.

"Here you are, ladies," Phineas said politely as he set down two glasses on the table and dropped straws into each of them.

"Hey, that reminds me…" Shima smiled as a thought had just occurred to her. "_Summer, it's crickets and cicadas and a glass of lemonade…_" She sang, holding up her glass.

Phineas, upon recognizing the lyrics, joined in. "_Summer, it's sitting with your brother in the backyard under the shade of a big tree…_"

"_That's what it means to me_," Isabella burst out, throwing her hands into the air.

"_The days are longer…_" Phineas pretended to strum a guitar.

"_The nights are shorter!_" Shima's voice was flawless as she acted out playing the piano.

"_The sun is shining…_" Isabella flicked the end of her straw, and it spun around in the glass cup.

They looked at Ferb expectantly. He smiled and sang in a low voice his only line of the song, "_It's noticeably warmer._"

They all sang together, "_Summer! Every single moment is worth it's weight in gold. Summer, it's like the world's best story and it's waiting to be to-old…_"

"_It's_ _ice cream cones and che-rry soda, dripping down your chin…_" They sang loudly.

"_It's summer! Man, where do we begin?_" Shima and Isabella harmonized.

"_It's_ _su-mmer, man where do we begin_?" Phineas finished, stretching his arms out and waving his hands.

"I love that song." Isabella chimed before she took another sip of her lemonade.

"Me too." Shima sighed happily, remembering when Phineas had first sang that song, when they went into the other dimension and met their other selves. But, unfortunately, Phineas and the rest of the gang had had their memories wiped clean, so they wouldn't remember that day when they discovered Perry's double-life as a secret agent.

"I remember when I first sang that. It was like I already knew the song from somewhere…weird, huh?" Phineas poured himself a glass and sucked it down, for his throat was very dry. He also handed a glass to Ferb, who nodded gratefully.

Shima gulped nervously. It was true that he had already known those lyrics, and Shima hoped that he wouldn't remember anything from that day when he saved the Tri State Area. She was sure he still had those memories, but they were probably tucked somewhere so deep in his brain that he couldn't recall them. _At least…not for now,_ Shima thought, tugging on the bottom of her dress out of anxiousness.

After sitting in silence for the next few minutes, absorbed in their own personal memories, the rest of the gang watched as Phineas walked into the living room, over to the couch, and sat on the arm of it. He placed his feet on the cushions and faced his brother. Shima followed him in as Isabella was draining the rest of her glass, making loud sucking noises with her straw.

"You okay, bro?" He asked.

Ferb shrugged. "I've been better."

Shima looked at her friend apologetically. "I'm so sorry! I totally didn't mean for that to happen to you, Ferb…" She squeaked as she put her hands in front of her and waved them frantically.

"Don't worry about it." Ferb flicked his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, it wasn't your fault anyway, Shima," Izzie said as she shuffled into the room. She had refilled her glass and took a sip of it before saying, "If _somebody_ didn't tickle her to death, this would have _never _happened." She looked straight at Phineas with an eyebrow raised.

He blushed and scratched his ear. "I just wanted to have some fun, that's all," He lied. "And anyway, Shima started tickling _you_ first, Izzie."

"Liar! You totally did that just to try to squeeze some answers out of Shima when she told you she wouldn't answer your questions in the first place."

Phineas stuck her tongue out at her. He knew that was why, he just felt ashamed for doing that to Shima when he knew he shouldn't have. _Mental Note: Do not lie about things that are extremely obvious, Phineas,_ He told himself. _Oh, and also, don't tickle your friends when you want to know something and they won't tell you anyway. 'Cause if you _do_ do that, you'll get blown up by a white light. There. Now I've convinced myself to never do that again. _He smiled to himself.

"You _did_ provoke her, Phin," Ferb pointed out.

"What? No, no, he didn't _provoke _me, that's not really…what really…he only…what's the word I'm looking for…?" Shima fidgeted as she tried to come up with an excuse to defend her friend.

"No, Shima, he _did _provoke you," Isabella said sternly. She pointed at Phineas, smirked, and said, "Who's the one who ended up in the tree, anyway?"

Phineas' face turned crimson and he muttered, "Not funny."

"I…I really didn't mean to do that to you guys. Honest." Shima frowned.

Ferb ran a hand through his messy green hair, accidently knocking his cap off. "If you say you didn't mean it, then that's that. Case closed."

Isabella cocked her head to the side, looking utterly confused. "What _did_ happen, anyway? All I remember is seeing a white light, and then I was suddenly eating dirt."

"Well, while I was knocked out, Phineas was apparently 'hanging around'," Ferb joked, kicking his brother's legs playfully.

"I was _not_!" Phineas laughed as he began to kick Ferb back.

"Well, while you two were having a good time over by the tree, Perry was busy being a turtle, weren't you, Perry?" Shima giggled as Perry padded into the room, giving Shima an annoyed glare when nobody else was looking. The platypus made his grinding noise and left the kitchen.

"Yes. Yes he was." Phineas was now on the floor in the same position Ferb had been when he was unconscious, legs up on the sofa and grinning goofily.

"What did you do to him, Ferb?" Shima snorted as she went over and stood above the upside-down teenager.

"Nothing. He just fell." Ferb replied with a gaping yawn.

"Phineas, you are such a klutz," Isabella nudged him in the side with her foot.

Phineas beamed at them and pulled his cell phone out of his yukata sleeve, flipped it open, and made a clicking noise.

"Four o' clock," He stated, shutting his phone and shoving it back into his sleeve. "That means only three more hours until the festival."

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Isabella rubbed her hands together, eager for the festivities to start.

"That reminds me…where are Buford and Baljeet?" Shima questioned.

"Hmm…they told me that they had to go to some kind of math get-together," Phineas answered.

"And…and _Buford_ went with him?" Isabella gawked. "_Unbelievable. _I mean…I know that they're good friends, but a _math get-together_? I _never_ thought Buford would go _that _far."

"Even though they _do_ mercilessly and endlessly make fun of each other, they actually have quite a close bond," Ferb said.

"Not as close as ours!" Phineas cheered as he pointed at his brother.

"Very true." Shima agreed.

Footsteps sounded from the top of the stairs, and the four of them looked up simultaneously to see Candace coming down the stairs, looking exhausted. Large circles had formed under her eyes and her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in a week. Even though she had looked perfectly fine that morning, one nap could change everything.

"Hey, Candace," Phineas greeted his sister. "Didja have a nice nap?"

"Not really," She mumbled as she poured herself a glass of lemonade.

Phineas looked at her nervously. "Why not? We weren't loud this time, Candace, I swear!"

_Oh, yes you were._ She thought. "It wasn't you guys." As soon as she had fallen back into bed, Candace had heard more screaming. After looking out the window and seeing her brother tickling Shima, she angrily went back to bed to go to asleep right after seeing a white light. It seemed she had only gotten five minutes of sleep before she woke up again. "I've just had a _long_ week..."

"You should come to the fireworks festival, Candace!" Isabella offered.

"Yeah. You can just relax and enjoy the show." Phineas added.

"..." While Candace pondered whether she should attend or not, Shima piped up, "You'd have a lot of fun, Candace. The festival is supposed to be for everyone to enjoy. And you could invite Jeremy, too."

"Alright, I'll go," Candace growled.

Shima and Isabella cheered while Phineas and Ferb smirked at their sister.

"Don't give me that. I'm only coming because it's your stupid anniversary." She snapped.

"Don't be like that, Candace. You're coming because you want to, right?" Shima smiled sweetly while the others looked on in silence.

"...Maybe." She mumbled. For some reason, Candace always felt vulnerable around her brothers' next-door-neighbor. Shima reminded her of one of those flawless girls on TV when she was younger. Candace recalled when she had tried to be a flawless girl, and she ended up being fifty feet tall due to her brothers' growing potion.

"I knew it." Shima laughed.

"Okay, it's four-thirty," Phineas told them. "Wow, that went by fast, didn't it?"

"Yup, it sure did!" Isabella chirped. "Hey, Shima, can we _please_ get our yukatas on?"

Phineas sat up like a bullet and nodded. "Yeah! I wanna see what you guys look like."

"Okay. Come on, girls..." Shima grabbed Isabella and Candace's wrists and led them upstairs.

"We'll be down in about an hour-and-a-half!" Shima called as they disappeared up the steps.

Phineas' jaw dropped. "Does it really take them _that_ long to get ready?" He asked in disbelief.

"Well, yes," Ferb said. "They have to do their hair and stuff, so..."

"How do you know?" Phineas glared at his brother suspiciously.

"I have a girlfriend, remember?" Ferb reminded him. He was referring to his 21-year-old girlfriend, Vanessa.

Phineas looked at his brother sourly. "She's _way_ to old for you, bro."

"Love is blind." Ferb shrugged. "And look who's talking, Mr. Tickle-Pants."

"F-Ferb!" Phineas' cheeks turned pink. He grabbed a pillow off of the couch and chucked it at his brother.

Ferb chortled as he blocked the pillow with his arm and it fell to the floor lifelessly.

"I know what I did was wrong." He muttered. "I just wanted to know those things...why did she never tell us, Ferb? Why doesn't she want us to know?" He hugged his knees. "We're her best friends, Ferb...why...why is she hiding things from us?"

Ferb stared at his brother in silence.

"She's never hidden anything from us before. Never has she had any secrets she needed to keep to herself...she'd always confide in us...never, never has she kept something from us..." Phineas whispered, staring at the carpet as he began to rock back and forth.

"Perhaps she just doesn't want us to know because...it could change everything." Ferb suggested.

"Maybe..." Phineas sighed. "I really regret what I did back there. I mean...sometimes, my curiosity gets the better of me, you know?"

Ferb nodded. "I understand you completely. Who's been living with you all his life?"

Phineas laughed. "Yeah, of course you'd know my curiosity is always on edge."

Phineas looked over at the stairs leading up to his sister's old room, where he could hear quiet laughter echoing throughout the house.

"Well, we might as well go outside and play a few minigames," Ferb said.

The two brothers stood up and walked to the sliding glass door. The opened it and raced into the yard, deciding to play the shooting game that was hosted by the black-and-white booth.

After getting their water guns all ready to go, a cardboard alien appeared, and then they furiously began to shoot it, spraying water everywhere.

The alien easily dodged their weak attacks, making the brothers even more eager to shoot it down. They had designed this game to be quite challenging so they wouldn't be bored with the outcome.

After several more minutes frantically trying to shoot the alien, Phineas cried, "Got it!" as the alien was finally shot. Above their heads a digital voice called, "_CONGRATULATIONS! You have won!_"

"Alright! I get a stuffed animal!" Phineas cheered as he picked a platypus plush off the side of the booth.

"Nice one," Ferb complimented.

"How many minutes was that, Ferb?" Phineas asked as Ferb pulled a timer out of his pocket.

"Three minutes, five point ninety-eight seconds," Ferb replied as he slipped the timer back into his pocket.

"I think I beat the world record!" Phineas joked as he squeezed the plush close to his chest.

"Yeah, right," Ferb snorted as Phineas skipped around the yard, making platypus noises and waving his arms around.

"_Grrrrrkkkkrrrrrrk!_" Phineas chattered just like Perry.

"You are one of the most childish people I've ever met," Ferb sighed as his brother was now holding the platypus doll in the air and saying, "All hail the platypus'!"

After another hour of nothing but platypus sounds, the back door opened and three girls walked out into the yard.

"_Grrrrkkkrrrk..._" Phineas was lying on the ground and toying with his doll when Ferb elbowed him in the ribs and stood up.

"Wha-?" Phineas lifted his head and his jaw dropped.

The girls looked very beautiful in their yukatas. Isabella was wearing a pink yukata with pretty red flowers and trees on hers. Her black hair was tied up in a bun, and she had chopsticks in them. She had put makeup on, which was something she didn't normally do. Her cheeks were bright pink and she had red lipstick on, making her lips shine. Candace was wearing a red and white yukata with white birds on the bottom and the sleeves. Her hair was tied up in a bun as well; hers had many little hairpins sticking out here and there, and a few stray pieces had fallen to her back. Phineas thought that Shima looked the most beautiful out of the three of them; Her yukata was lavender and sky blue, which just happened to be her favorite colors. Blooming flowers and gleaming stars were decorated on her yukata, and her hair was like the others but with the stray pieces falling to her shoulders, which was her normal style. Her necklace was shining brightly, the crystal star gleaming with many colors. All three girls were wearing the same styled shoes as the two brothers, who were clearly mesmerized by how gorgeous all of them looked.

Phineas just gawked at them until Ferb kicked him hard in the side, eyes not drawing away from his sister and his neighbors.

"Ouch!" Phineas hissed, glaring at his brother. Rubbing his side, he stood up and gulped audibly as Shima walked over to him and dipped her head gracefully.

"Konichiwa," She greeted, and the girls behind her giggled.

"Um...hi." Phineas looked at her nervously, not understanding what she had just said.

"That's right," Shima said, nodding. "Konichiwa means 'hi' or 'hello'."

"Oh!" Phineas exclaimed, surprised he had gotten it right.

"Konichiwa, Phineas-sama," Isabella giggled nonstop as she walked over to Phineas. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Um...nothing," He replied awkwardly.

"Nice doll you got there, twerp." Candace snorted as she pointed at the platypus doll Phineas held in his arms.

"I won it." He stated proudly, cracking a grin and making a small platypus noise, "_Grrrkrrrk._"

Suddenly, the fence gate opened, and two familiar teenage boys walked in, eyes widening as they looked around at the many different colored booths.

"What are you guys doing _today_?" Buford, the bully, asked as he walked over to them, his Indian 'friend' trailing behind him.

"We're having a fireworks festival," Ferb replied.

"Wow! This is very cool! It is almost like a real Japanese festival!" Baljeet applauded them, nodding in approval.

"You guys should go put your yukatas on," Shima said, disappearing inside for a moment and returning a second later. She handed Buford a black yukata and Baljeet an orange one.

"A whaty-what? And I am _not_ wearing a dress," Buford held his yukata up to him, which had bright red and orange flames on it, and looked at it disdainfully.

"It is not a dress, Buford, it is a yukata. They are Japanese styled clothing and many people wear them to traditional Japanese festivals." Baljeet explained.

"Well, if men wear them, then I guess I can deal with it." Buford shrugged and the two walked inside to change.

"I know, Buford's yukata isn't really traditional. But he wouldn't have worn one if it were, right?" Shima told them.

The rest of them just shrugged or nodded in agreement, and then they fell silent.

The five of them stood in silence for a few minutes before Ferb pulled Isabella and Candace over to a minigame booth and winked at his brother. Phineas looked at him with pure horror before Shima asked, "You okay, Phineas?"

He cleared his throat and said quickly, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

More silence. Phineas stared at the ground, feeling like he was going to catch on fire.

He shuffled his feet before mumbling, "Youlookreallyprettytonight."

"Huh? What was that?" Shima asked, leaning in closer, cocking an eyebrow.

"Um...I said, um...you...you look...really pretty tonight..." Phineas was sure his face was glowing bright red as he said this. He tugged on his yukata uncomfortably.

Shima blushed and said, "Thanks. So do you."

"Thanks..." Phineas played with his hands before working up the courage to say, "Wanna go play a minigame together?"

"Sure. Let's go." Shima smiled serenely before taking his hand and walking over to the same shooting game he had played a couple of hours before. Phineas flushed once more before she let go and took a water gun.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yup. Ready." He replied, taking his water gun and pumping it.

Forgetting his moment of embarrassment, Phineas immediately began to shoot rapidly at the alien, but Shima was faster than him for some reason. He looked at her in shock before she said quickly, not taking her eyes off of the target, "I've had a lot of aim practice."

_Hmm. Another thing I didn't know about her. _He frustratedly clicked his trigger as fast as possible, and he nearly missed the alien when Shima shot it, causing Phineas to yelp in surprise when the robotic voice cheered, "_CONGRATULATIONS! You have won!_" the second time that night.

"Good job," Phineas complimented her as she grabbed a platypus doll just like his and squeezed it.

"I love platypus'," She purred. "Especially Perry."

"Yeah. Even though he doesn't do much, he's a great pet." Phineas stroked his platypus plush fondly, thinking of his own mindless pet platypus.

"No, he does things, like..." Shima clapped a hand over her mouth loudly. She had almost let it slip that Perry was in fact a secret agent to the O.W.C.A.

Phineas had heard her mistake, and he leaned in and asked, "What was that?"

"N-nothing! Nothing. Don't worry about it." She took his hand and led him over to another booth, saying, "Let's play this one next..."

But Phineas was no longer paying attention to his best friend; his stomach was twisting strangely, telling him that Shima had yet again lied to him.

_Why? Why are you lying to me? _He thought miserably. _Why...why are you keeping things from me, Shima?_


	5. AN & PREVIEW

**Okay! I have completely altered this chapter from what it was before! Well, actually, it's still an Author's Note like last time…for those of you who are reading this for the first time, pay no mind to what I just said. ANYWAY! I can't delete this chapter because that will cause some…problems…to my fanfiction. So just deal with it. As I was saying, I am currently updating all of my chapters and fixing all of the mistakes that my readers have kindly pointed out to me. So…yup. And again, I apologize for not updating, but as you all know I'm a busy person, blah blah blah, all that crap. Next chapter (which, at this point of time that I am writing this, should be Chapter 11 on here, Chapter 10 in my book) should be coming out soon. I am currently having a fierce battle with a horrible enemy that goes by the name of Writer's Block. Hopefully I shall defeat the beast and emerge victorious! –cough cough- now, to make this boring, weird author's note chapter seem less…weird, I'm gonna give you a preview to the next PnF fanfic I am writing and might (possibly, hopefully, maybe?) post on here. **It probably won't happen, though.** –cough cough- Okay, here we go~ this is gonna be kinda short, by the way. This is just so you aren't disappointed in me and are crushed that this so-called chapter is actually an author's note. Again, this will involve Shima once again. Don't be mad at me. She's my character and I can do what I want with her! This is fanfiction, can't we be allowed to have our own OC's and not get judged for having them in most of our stories? –ahem-IamsosorrypleaseforgivemeIlo veyouguyssomuchseriouslyI'lltrytoupdatemoreIpromise.**

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><p>"For you, milady."<p>

The princess looked down in surprise to see a young boy with flaming red hair, face hidden from embarrassment and arm outstretched. In his hand was a bundle of beautiful white flowers. The girl smiled and took them from him, bringing them up to her nose and inhaling their sweet, alluring scent.

"Thank you, kind sir. You don't need to be so embarrassed." The boy smiled and raised his head, his cheeks flushing when he finally could admire the girl's features up close.

"These are lovely," She commented, a soft smile touching her lips. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

The boy dipped his head politely and kissed her hand. "My name is Phineas Flynn. And may I ask your name as well?"

The girl giggled and nodded. "Shima. It is a pleasure to meet you, Phineas-san."

Phineas grinned widely at this, his heart leaping with joy, when suddenly noises could be heard outside of the carriage. Shima's face quickly turned into a look of panic. She gently gripped Phineas' shoulders and pushed him away. "You must hurry! If the guards see me talking to a commoner they'll be furious."

_Commoner?_ The boy thought to himself in confusion. "When can I see you again, Shima-san?"

Shima blinked and replied quickly, "I'm sure you'll see me in the festival. This, I am sure of." She pushed him again, this time more forcefully. "Please, hurry! I don't want you to get in trouble!"

Phineas gave her one last look of farewell before he raced off, finding his brother and their companions within minutes. He slowed his pace down to a trot before stopping beside Ferb, his face bright with happiness.

"Ferb, I think I'm in love," He stated, his eyes dreamy.

"Is that so? Who did you fall in love with, then?" Ferb replied, looking amused. Phineas shrugged before replying, "A beautiful girl. Her name is Shima-san."

"Wait. Don't you mean Shima-hime?" Isabella asked, tilting her head to the side. Phineas gave her a look of question. She answered, "The princess of this region? Duh. Shima-hime has been kept in her castle for years, and the King finally decided to let her out. This is her first night out in her country."

Phineas' jaw dropped, his eyes wide as saucers. "Wait…do you mean to say…I fell in love with the princess of Japan?!"

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><p><strong>And there it is. Just a little section. Actually, that's the first part of it I've written. I have the summary down on paper, but nothing else. I Hope you aren't too disappointed with this chapter. Pleaseexcusemeforbeingsolazy . I'll update soon, so review and look forward to it!<strong>


	6. Fireworks

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ): Hey, everyone! I know it's been a while, and I am very, very, VERY sorry for not updating sooner! Well, I've worked hard all week (during the free time that I've had) and here it is! Chapter 5! Fireworks! Yes, this is a big chapter, but please don't worry, it's not over yet. More chapters are sure to come! I'll try my best to update as fast as possible, but I'm not making any promises. Anyway! Some new characters will be introduced in this chapter, and yes, they are friends of Shima's. Also, we're going to have a bit of singing in this chapter, so since the links aren't working on here, just go to you tube and search them up. I have the song writers and the songs at the bottom of every chapter they sing in, so it shouldn't be too hard to find! Just warning you, for one of the songs I'm using the Glee Cast version (a TV show), so if you want to just use the normal version, go ahead. Now it's time for reviews!**

**Rachel: Thank you so much for your support! It's because of your review that got me motivated to finish writing this chapter!**

**Phineas: Thanks. I tried to tell her to keep writing, but...she wouldn't listen to me.**

**Shi: HEY!**

**Wolfie: Thank you for your support as well! Did you read the author's note in the last chapter...? I was directing that at you. Not in a bad way, of course! Never!**

**Candace: *Snorts* Typical.**

**Shi: Be quiet, you.**

**xOxO Lost Angel OxOx: Thanks! I will continue to update and hopefully you'll read more of my story!**

**I only got a few reviews, but they mean the world to me. Thanks, everyone! This chapter is for you guys! And for the rest of you, REVIEW! Reviews motivate me and whenever I get one, I dance around my room in happiness (not lying!). So, please, please review! Okay, now that's done, let us move onward.**

**Shi: Let's see...is there anything else...?**

**Phineas: What about the disclaimer?**

**Shi: Oh, right! Phineas, do the honors.**

**Phineas: Shima does not own Phineas and Ferb!**

**Shi: Yeah, 'cause if I did, Shima and Phineas would totally be dating.**

**Phineas: W-WHAT?**

**Shi: Just kidding! Okie dokie, roll chappy!**

**?: Enjoy chapter 5!**

**Shi: Hey! You're not introduced yet!**

**?: I couldn't resist. Tee hee hee!**

**Shi: Okay, we're starting now. No more interupptions! ROLL CHAPPY!**

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Fireworks

_A green-haired teenager stood over the edge of a bluff that towered high over the ocean; he sighed as the sun began to set over the mountains. He heard pawsteps behind him. Turning, he saw a familiar golden-furred creature trot up to him, pitch black eyes staring straight ahead. _

_The creature dipped its head in greeting but did not say a word. He sat by the teen and looked up at the stars that were beginning to appear in the darkening sky. _

_They stood in silence for a few moments before the teenager said quietly, "We used to watch the sun rise every day." _

_The creature did not glance his way; instead he nodded slowly and murmured, "I know you miss her, Colin, but it was for the best."_

_Colin shook his head sadly, sat down, and hugged his knees. "How long...how long has it been, RP?" He asked softly._

_"Fifteen years." RP replied, the necklace that hung around his neck shining with 17 different colors all at once. "But time does not change who we are, in fact, we still remain the same." He raised his head to the heavens, "That was a gift from Lord Arkeun himself."_

_"Time...he gave us the gift of time?" Colin said, dazed._

_"Yes. We, like the Master of Time, can control it." _

_Colin winced, thinking of the evil beast that had caused RP to send away his closest friend in the first place; that evil being who used to be normal and who controlled time, until he was consumed with greed and hunger for power. Now he used his power over time for evil purposes, plunging the distant future into a world of darkness and shadow._

_"We can even change our age, if we want to...I believe Shima has done that a few times already." RP flicked his tail across the grass, making it rustle. _

_"Has he...has he found her yet?" Colin asked worriedly._

_RP shook his head. "No. If he has found her, I will know."_

_"You can sense his emotions," Colin guessed, eyes clouding with confusion._

_"Only if I choose to do so." RP glared at nothing in particular as he said this._

_"She's lucky this time, isn't she? She's managed to evade him for five years. That's the longest time she's ever been in one dimension." Colin mused._

_"Yes...usually she can only stay in one dimension for a year or two before he tracks her down again. Then she says goodbye to her friends and continues on her way before he can get to her...a bit cruel, don't you think?" RP remarked as the sun's rays hit his face._

_"Hmm...I wonder who she met this time? And do they know who she __**really**__ is?" Colin wondered._

_"I do not know." RP closed his eyes, drinking in the remaining sunlight._

_"Heya, RP! Colin!" A girl called from behind them. _

_They turned around to see a dark-haired, blue-eyed girl staring at them, head cocked to the side slightly, curly hair tied up in a high ponytail. This girl was unlike Shima in every way; always ready to go and never shy around people, she was Shima's complete opposite._

_"So, I've made my decision," She said confidently, putting her hands on her hips and smirking. Her short polka-dotted skirt fluttered in the wind._

_"And what is that?" RP asked curiously._

_"I'm gonna go pay Shi Shi a visit," She replied happily, twirling a finger in the air._

_"Are you insane?! He'll totally catch you, ya know!" Colin shouted suddenly, jumping up and giving one of his best friends a glare._

_"Okay, if there's one person who should visit Shima, that'd be me," RP snarled, teeth gritted. He usually never got mad at anyone, but at the moment he was quite irritated at the overly-confident girl._

_"Sorry RP, but this is a must," The girl insisted, looking worried for once. "I haven't seen Shi Shi in __**forever**__! And besides, I'm more related to her than you are, RP-chan." Adding '-chan' for a cute effect, she smiled sweetly, putting her hands behind her back._

_"W-who was the one who found her in the first place, huh?!" RP burst out, outraged, stomping his paws down in the grass._

_The girl giggled madly. "You're so adorable when you get angry, RP!"_

_"W-w-what!?" RP flushed bright red as he dug his paws into the ground._

_"Chill, RP, just let her go. Shima'll be glad to see her anyway." A voice came out of nowhere and a dark-haired boy walked up beside the cute girl. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave RP his signature thumbs-up. He stuck out his tongue and winked._

_"J-Johnny! This doesn't involve you!" RP growled, surprised by the idol's sudden appearance._

_"I don't like this at all..." Colin moaned, shoving his hands into his pockets and raising his head skyward._

_"Well, then, that's decided!" The girl cried cheerfully. "I'll be off, then." She saluted them._

_RP sighed in defeat, lashing his tail from side to side angrily. "Alright. Just tell her I said hi, okay?" _

_"Sure! Tanks, RP-chan!" She cooed playfully, acting like a little girl._

_"Why does she get to go?" Colin complained, pointing an accusing finger at her._

_"Oooh, Colin's gettin' jealous!" Johnny laughed._

_"__**Am not**__!" He yelled, blushing madly._

_"Come on, Colin, you know I havta go," The girl giggled. "Besides, you know I'm..."_

* * *

><p>Shima sensed her necklace acting up again, so she looked down to see it glowing brightly. Eyes widening in confusion, she cupped a hand over it, trying to cover up the glow.<p>

Baljeet and Buford returned, all dressed up and looking quite excited.

Baljeet's yukata was orange, and it had bright yellow dragons on it that breathed red-hot flames. Buford's was black, with reddish-orange fire markings on it, making it quite simple. Both wore the strange beige-colored sandals.

"Let us start the celebration!" Baljeet suggested, as his friends were now all in a circle around him, looking eager to begin the festivities.

"We have to wait until Mom and Dad get home," Phineas said. "They went to the antique shop to do some repairs and they said they wouldn't be back until 6:30."

"Well, what time is it, Dinner Bell?" Buford asked.

Ferb already had his cell phone out, saying, "It's 6:20. They should be here in about ten minutes." He tucked it back into his yukata sleeve.

"What!? You mean...you're actually gonna let them see all...all _this_?" Candace gestured to the array of minigame booths, and the large box filled with fireworks that leaned against the tree.

"Of course we are," Phineas looked at her, confused. "We worked all day on it, why wouldn't we want them to see it?"

"They will also hear the fireworks going off when they are inside, so they will naturally be curious as to what is going on, correct?" Baljeet babbled.

Candace grinned so wide, her face seemed to stretch out. "_Perfect,_" She hissed. "Just...perfect. Hee hee heee heee heeee..." She rubbed her hands together, laughing in a strange and creepy way.

"Uh...Candace, are you okay?" Isabella asked, nudging her in the side. Candace kept on giggling madly, eyes unfocused, looking triumphant.

"You said you wouldn't bust them, Candace," Shima warned, shaking a finger.

"B-b-b-bu-bu-bu-but..." She stuttered. "I finally get my chance, and you're telling me I _can't_ bust them after all these years?" She stomped her foot on the ground repeatedly.

"No. No, you can't." Shima concluded, folding her arms and giving Candace a look that said, _'Don't-even-try-to-argue-with-me'_.

"Fine. _Only_ because it's your anniversary. But next time, don't expect any mercy from me." She stomped off, fuming.

Shima sighed. "I'm not the kind of person that would do such things, but..." She laughed nervously. "Okay, shall we get started?"

"Yes! Let us play some minigames and win many prizes!" Baljeet cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"Okay. C'mon, Shima, let's go play that one!" Phineas, deciding to be brave around his crush for once, grabbed Shima's hand and ran over to a black-and-white booth, leaving a steamed Isabella behind.

"_I'm-so-angry_!" She hissed, eyes now on fire.

Ferb looked at his friend, who's clothes seemed to have caught on fire as well, and came to a conclusion that he'd try to calm her down, "Shall we go try the sushi, Izzie?" Ferb offered a hand, and Isabella blinked. Shrugging, she took it and the two walked over to a blue-and-green booth.

Baljeet and Buford looked at each other disdainfully, but eventually picked on trying the minigame Shima and Phineas had played just moments ago.

"Nummy!" Shima squealed, as she had just tried some cotton candy. "I wove cotton condy!" Her mouth was stuffed with it, and Phineas laughed.

"It's all over your face," He pointed out, and Shima blushed, "Ehh?"

Reaching behind him, Phineas grabbed a napkin from a nearby booth and gently wiped the remainder of the cotton candy off of Shima's face, causing her to face to flush a bright red color as Phineas threw the napkin away.

"Um…tee hee hee…" She giggled out of nervousness.

Phineas had to take a few deep breaths before returning to her; he started to think what he did was too bold. Pretending that the last moment had never occurred, he casually strolled back over to her while he thought of something to say.

"You're so childish." Deciding on his case of action, he bonked her on the head gently with his fist.

"Hey! Look who's talking!" She teased, putting her hands on her hips, blush quickly fading away.

"I guess you're right." He grinned, and Shima smiled.

They suddenly heard a honk from beyond the backyard fence. Phineas blinked and said, "Mom and Dad are home!" Grabbing Shima's hand, he ran towards the gate as she stumbled behind him, occasionally letting out squeaks of alarm, "P-Phineas! Slow down!"

Phineas unlocked the latch and ran out into the driveway as the others realized the Flynn-Fletcher parents had finally arrived.

"Yes! They're here!" Candace squealed with excitement; the moment of truth was about to be revealed.

Phineas screeched to a stop before he slammed into the red car door. His mother got out of the car and smiled. "Hi, honey. We're home. Were you waiting for us?"

Phineas nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! We want to show you guys something."

"Erm, hello, Mr. and Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher!" Shima greeted them with a dip of her head.

"My, my, what _are_ you two wearing?" Lawrence asked them as he got out of the car. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he inspected the strange clothing the pair were wearing.

"Yukatas! Now come on, come on! We need to show you something!" Phineas encouraged, dragging his parents into the backyard, Shima trailing behind them.

"Phineas Flynn, we just got home, we don't have the time to-oh!" Linda stopped abruptly when she saw the backyard-it was decorated with many different colored booths. Lanterns hung from up high and cast a bright glow over the yard as the sky slowly darkened above them. Japanese music played softly in the background, and Ferb, Candace, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet all stood in silence as the Flynn-Fletcher parents gazed in awe at the scene surrounding them.

"What…what is all this?" Linda gaped.

"We're doing a Fireworks festival today!" Phineas told her with a huge smile as he spread his arms wide as if he were inviting someone to give him a hug.

"This is very interesting, boys! It's good to see that you've taken an interest in Japanese culture." Lawrence complimented.

"See, Mom? I _told_ you they've been doing all of this crazy stuff-building a rollercoaster, haunted house, time machine, backyard beach…they're insane." Candace said quickly before Shima could stop her.

"You…you mean that all this time…you weren't lying? You were actually telling the truth?" She turned to her sons, eyes wide with shock. "Phineas…Ferb…have you really done all of those things Candace has been telling me about?"

"Yes. Yes we have." Ferb replied simply.

"We're inventors! We do all of this awesome stuff, Mom!" Phineas explained, eyes shining.

"And-and you _knew_ about all of this?" Linda pointed a finger at her husband, and he looked at her, confused.

"Of course I do, dear. I thought they told you?" Lawrence cocked his head to the side.

"Un…unbelievable…completely…" She staggered over to Phineas and pulled him into a hug, trembling. "You…you're an inventor…" She whispered, "Just like your father…"

"…" Phineas didn't reply.

"Mrs. Flynn," Shima tapped Linda on the shoulder.

Letting her son go, she turned to Shima, looking at her with plain disbelief.

"Your sons are amazing inventors. If it weren't for them and their inventions to cheer me up, I wouldn't be the same. Everyone else feels that way too, right?" She gestured towards the remainder of the group, smiling.

Isabella immediately agreed. "Yeah! Phineas and Ferb are awesome! I always look forward to coming over everyday and seeing their inventions! And I always have loads and loads of fun with them!"

"They're pretty good inventors for nerds like them." Buford grunted.

"Phineas and Ferb are extremely intelligent! They always make the most mind-blowing contraptions!" Baljeet added.

"Yeah…I guess my life would be pretty boring without them." Candace murmured, looking away.

"G-guys…" Phineas sniffed, tears now in his eyes.

"Don't get mad at them. They're just overly creative…and they always cheer people up." Shima concluded.

"What? You-you think I'm angry? Of course I'm not…" Linda blubbered. Once again she threw her arms around Phineas and then burst into tears. "O-of course I'm not angry! My sons are inventors! And th-the best ones at that!" She wailed.

The group watched in silence as Linda continued to cry, when Shima suddenly grinned and ran over to the hugging pair. She hugged them both tightly and shouted happily, "Group hug!"

Everyone began to laugh and all came over to hug each other. They laughed for several minutes until they all lost their balance and fell over in a huge pile. After getting back on their feet again, they all smiled and wiped tears from their eyes.

"What…is happening here…?" A voice came from the entrance to the backyard.

Candace screamed with joy, "Jeremy!"

She ran over to hug him, and everyone followed, and then they were all in a huge group hug again, with Jeremy in the middle saying, "What?! What's going on here?!"

A half-hour later, the backyard was full with the neighborhood kids and their parents, who were all wearing different styles of yukatas that were provided by Shima. Lawrence, Linda, and Jeremy were all dressed up as well; they were now enjoying the various minigames and Japanese food that were scattered around the yard in the bright, glowing booths.

During that short time period, Phineas had suddenly had and awe-inspiring idea, which led to the huge stage that was set up in the center of the backyard.

Phineas was now backstage with his stepbrother, planning for the big show he was about to perform.

"Do you have all of the lyrics memorized?" Ferb asked quietly.

Phineas nodded. "Yeah. I think I've got it…Ferb?" He looked at his brother, worry in his eyes. "Do you…do you think she'll like it...?"

"Yes. I think she'll like it very much." Ferb replied kindly. "Be confident, Phineas. It's your time now."

"Yeah!" Phineas cracked a grin. "It's show time!" He grabbed his guitar and set out for the stage, but before he began to make his way, Ferb grabbed his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Phineas gave Ferb a questioning look. "What's up?"

"Carpe Diem, right?" Ferb said.

Phineas blinked, and slowly his mouth widened into a smile. "Yup! Carpe Diem!"

The two headed out on to the stage, which was covered by the curtains. The show was to start in just a few minutes.

As Ferb began to prepare his instrument and as Phineas warmed up his voice, the rest of the band gathered around them.

"Hey, Dinner Bell, why are we performing?" Buford asked as he prepared his drum set on the stage.

"What is going on? I don't recall you telling us that there would be a performance." Baljeet added as he played a few notes on his portable piano.

"Yeah, I know it was last minute, but this is important, guys!" Phineas said.

"It's for Shima, right?" Isabella asked him sadly. She strummed a few notes on her guitar, and they were miserable, long notes.

"That's right," Phineas nodded. "Hey, Izzie…what's wrong?" He looked at her, concerned.

She froze up when he looked at her with that innocent blue gaze. "N-nothing! I'm fine." She stuttered, blushing.

"We…we have to do our best for Shima!" She said suddenly, pumping a fist into the air.

"Yes. We shall." Ferb agreed.

"For Star, eh?" Buford said. He referred to Shima as 'Star' because of her necklace.

"Yes! Let us dedicate our performance to Shima!" Baljeet cried.

Phineas laughed. "Okay, let's go, guys! Carpe Diem!"

"Carpe Diem!" The rest of them cried.

Then, the curtains rose, and the small audience cheered loudly.

"Hell-o, Danville!" Phineas greeted them.

Several girls screamed loudly, and some of the boys hooted.

"We're only doing one song tonight," Phineas told them. The audience let out crows of disapproval.

"But even so, we're gonna make it big!" Phineas shouted, and the crowd erupted into cheers once more.

His eyes quickly searched the crowd and as soon as he spotted the familiar face, he said, "Tonight, we're dedicating this performance to Shima, our best friend. Today's our 5-year anniversary, and I just want to say…Shima, thanks for being my friend. You've always been there for me when I was feeling down, and you always cheered me up. You're smart, beautiful, courageous, talented, kind…there's no end to words that describe you. You've changed my life in many ways for the better, and I don't know how to thank you enough."

The audience '_awwed_' at this, and Shima was on the brink of tears as she held Perry in her arms.

"Thanks for everything, Shima! And now, we're going to sing a song for you."

Phineas took a deep breath and began to sing,

"_Oh!_

_Her eyes, her eyes _

_Make the stars look like they're not shining,  
><em>

_Her hair, her hair _

_Falls perfectly without her trying,  
><em>

_She's so beautiful  
><em>

_And I tell her everydaaay…_

_Yeah!_"

Shima immediately recognized the song, and smiled brightly.

Phineas continued to strum his guitar as he sang out,

"_I know, I know  
><em>

_When I compliment her she won't believe me  
><em>

_And it's so, it's so  
><em>

_Sad to think that she don't see what I see  
><em>

_But everytime she asks me 'Do I look okay?'  
><em>

_I saaaay…_"

The gang began to sing backup as Phineas pointed to Shima with a grin,

"_When I see your face  
><em>

_There's not a thing that I would change  
><em>

_'Cause you're amazing  
><em>

_Just the way you are!  
><em>

_And when you smile  
><em>

_The whole world stops and stares for a while  
><em>

_'Cause girl you're amazing  
><em>

_Just the way you are!_

_Yeah!_"

Shima began to cry. Tears slid softly down her cheeks as she watched her best friends sing their hearts out to her.

Phineas saw his friend crying and knew that he had succeeded; she was crying out of joy, out of happiness. He began to sing the next verse,

"_Her lips, her lips  
><em>

_I could kiss them all day if she let me,  
><em>

_Her laugh, her laugh  
><em>

_She hates but I think it's so sexy  
><em>

_She's so beautiful  
><em>

_And I tell her everydaaay…_"

The crowd began to sing along, most of them looking at Shima, who was just bawling now; she was so happy.

"_Oh you know, you know, you know  
><em>

_I'd never ask you to change  
><em>

_If perfects what you're searching for  
><em>

_Then just stay the same  
><em>

_So don't even bother asking if you look okay  
><em>

_You know I'll saaaaaaay,_"

Everyone was singing now, even Perry; he was having a hard time singing because the only sound he could produce was, "_Grrrrrrkkkkrrrrrrrr,_" but he was trying, and that was enough.

"_When I see your face  
><em>

_There's not a thing that I would change  
><em>

_'Cause you're amazing  
><em>

_Just the way you are  
><em>

_And when you smile  
><em>

_The whole world stops and stares for a while  
><em>

_'Cause girl you're amazing  
><em>

_Just the way you are!_

_The way you aaaaaaaarrrreee!_

_The way you aaaaaaaarrrreee!_

_Girl you're amazing _

_Just the way you are!_"

The crowd and the band onstage began to prepare themselves for the last verse of the song.

"_When I see your face_

_There's not a thing that I would change _

_'Cause you're amazing  
><em>

_Just the way you are  
><em>

_And when you smile  
><em>

_The whole world stops and stares for a while  
><em>

_'Cause girl you're amazing  
><em>

_Just the way you are!_

_Yeaaah!"_

Phineas ended as his voice echoed throughout the backyard. The audience burst into cheers as Phineas announced, "Goodnight, Danville!" and leaped off the stage. He made his way through the crowd until he found a sobbing Shima. Her face was tear-streaked and she was hugging Perry so tight she was choking him.

Phineas smiled and ran over to her. "Did you like it?" He asked as she pulled him into a hug. She released Perry, who escaped into the mob of people.

"Y-yes! I loved it! Oh…o-oh P-Phineas…t-t-thank you so much…" She cried.

Phineas smiled. "No, thank you, Shima. You've been there for me all this time, and, well, I…I just want to say that I-" He was cut off as suddenly his best friend was pulled off of him. Looking around he saw that Ferb had wrapped his arms around Shima's neck and had her back to him. He smirked.

"I have kidnapped your best friend." He stated.

"Fe-erb! Give her back!" He laughed and began to chase after his brother as Shima wailed, "Hey! I'm not a toy!"

Phineas managed to catch up, and he yanked the back of Shima's kimono, causing her to crash right into him.

"Ouch!" She cried as they both tumbled to the ground.

"Need some help there?" Isabella appeared out of nowhere and offered Shima a hand. Buford pulled Phineas to his feet and nearly sent him flying as Isabella helped Shima up.

"Thanks, guys. For everything." She smiled. "And now…it's _my_ turn."

The gang looked at her in confusion as she ran off.

"Hey…where's Star goin'?" Buford questioned.

Phineas shrugged in reply when suddenly a loud voice filled his ears.

"Um…hi, everyone!" Phineas looked up at the stage and blinked in surprise. Shima was up on stage, looking quite nervous.

"I just wanted to say…thanks to everyone out there for being my friends and supporting me. Especially to Phineas and his friends. I don't know what I'd do without them!" She giggled. "Now it's my turn to thank you guys. I'm dedicating this to you." She grinned at Phineas, and he smiled back. "I…I'm going to need someone else to play…" She gestured towards the instruments.

Several of the neighborhood children got up on stage and picked up the gang's instruments.

Before any of them could protest, Shima said quickly, "Ah! They'll be careful. Right, guys?" She asked the kids timidly.

They all nodded and gave Phineas' band a thumbs up.

"Don't worry!" A girl in a pink kimono said. "We'll take good care of your instruments, we promise."

"Well…okay." Phineas shrugged.

He watched as Shima started to whisper to the kids on stage. Phineas strained to hear the conversation, but all he caught was, "…know this song, right?" The other kids nodded, and Shima thanked them.

Returning to the microphone, she said, "As you should probably know, I'm dedicating this song to Phineas and his friends."

Taking a deep breath as Phineas had done a few minutes prior, she began to sing.

"_Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,  
><em>

_Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?  
><em>

_Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin  
><em>

_Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?_

_Do you ever feel already buried deep?  
><em>

_Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing  
><em>

_Do you know that there's still a chance for you  
><em>

_'Cause there's a spark in you?_

_You just gotta igniiiite the liiiight and leeeet it shiine!_

_Just oooown the niiiight like the 4th of July!_"

Shima's voice rang out loud and clear throughout the backyard. Suddenly, there was a loud boom; the crowd looked up and gazed in amazement to see exploding fireworks.

Looking around in confusion, Phineas saw that Candace, Jeremy, Linda, and Lawrence had started the fireworks. Grinning, Phineas turned back to the stage and watched his best friend sing.

"_'Cause baby, you're a fiiiiirework!  
><em>

_Come on, show 'em whaaaaat you're worth  
><em>

_Make 'em go, oh-oh-oh!  
><em>

_As you shoot across the sky-y-y!_

_Baby, you're a fiiiiirework!_

_Come on, let your cooooooolors burst  
><em>

_Make 'em go, oh-oh-oh  
><em>

_You're gonna leave 'em falling down-down-down!_"

The crowd began to dance. Phineas and his friends immediately joined in as they laughed and sang along.

Shima smiled. Her friend had made her happy, and now she was doing the same. She couldn't be any happier than this.

"_You don't have to feel like a waste of space  
><em>

_You're original, cannot be replaced  
><em>

_If you only knew what the future holds  
><em>

_After a hurricane comes a rainbow_

_Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed_

_So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road_

_Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow  
><em>

_And when it's time, you'll know_

_You just gotta igniiiiite the liiiiight and leeeeet it shiine!_

_Just ooooown the niiiiight like the 4th of July!_

_'Cause baby you're a fiiiiirework!  
><em>

_Come on, show 'em whaaaaat you're worth  
><em>

_Make 'em go, oh-oh-oh!  
><em>

_As you shoot across the sky-y-y!_

_Baby, you're a fiiiiiirework!_

_Come on, let your coooooolors burst  
><em>

_Make 'em go, oh-oh-oh  
><em>

_You're gonna leave 'em falling down-down-down!_"

Shima jumped of the stage and ran into the audience. As fireworks exploded overhead she grabbed Phineas and Ferb's hands and began to dance with them. She continued singing,

"_Boom, boom, boom  
><em>

_Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon  
><em>

_It's always been inside of you, you, you  
><em>

_And now it's time to let it throoouuuuuugh!_

_'Cause baby you're a fiiiiiiirework!_

_Come on, show 'em whaaaaaat you're worth  
><em>

_Make 'em go, oh-oh-oh!  
><em>

_As you shoot across the sky-y-y!_

_Baby, you're a fiiiiiiiirework_

_Come on, let your cooooolors burst  
><em>

_Make 'em go, oh-oh-oh!  
><em>

_You're gonna leave 'em falling down-down-down!_"

As the music slowly faded out, the whole crowd sang,

"_Boom, boom, boom  
><em>

_Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon  
><em>

_Boom, boom, boom  
><em>

_Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon…_"

Phineas and Shima hugged, both crying softly.

_Thank you. Thank you._

* * *

><p><strong>So? So? How was it? I hope you liked this chapter. It's one of my favorites~ Now for the links, just look 'em up on you tube~!<strong>

**Just the Way You Are (Glee Cast Version)**

**Firework (Katy Perry)**


	7. A Big Change

**PLEASE READ! Author's Note: -takes a deep breath- I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Yes, I know it's been forever-and I'm not going to ramble about how hard school is, yada yada yada. So yes, I apologize for being gone so long. I'm busy, busy, busy! Anyway...yippee, new chapter! I made this one EXTRA LONG so it'll make up for my extended absence from the Internet (20 pages long on Microsoft Word). Anything else, anything else...? Oh, yes! I'm also working on these stories for Fanfiction: Warriors, Soul Eater, Fairy Tail, Pokemon, Happy Happy Clover, Kamichama Karin, etc., etc. Also, there's a new character in this chapter-if any of you can correctly guess who this mystery person is I will allow you to ask me to do any fluff pairing you want. It can be with my character and a PnF character, it can be a PnF character and another PnF character, or it can be my character and another one of my characters. But you have to guess it right! :D Oh and I _finally_ figured out how to use the line thingy to separate scenes! I'm so smart. XD**

**Phineas: Shi, we missed you!**

**Shi: Oh, I missed you guys too! Come here! -gives Phineas a hug-**

**Perry: Grrrrrkrrrr!**

**Shi: Okay, you too, Perry. -hugs Perry-**

**Isabella: Can I do the disclaimer?**

**Shi: Yes. After I do the reviews.**

**Isabella: Aww...**

**xOxO Lost Angel OxOx: Thanks for the review! I felt so happy when I got it. Even though only 2 people reviewed my last chapter, well...oh well! Anyway...yes, these characters are sure mysterious. And they will have a huge impact on the story! Yes, I'll continue to write more chapters, even if it means I faint from exhaustion (I'm exaggerating a little here). Thanks again! And, uh...please review again! I'd be so happy if you do!**

**iLoveYouXx3: OMG OMG OMG! Your review was soooooo nice I almost died! Yes, that "Shi Shi" character I was talking about will be revealed in this chapter/the next chapter, so look forward to that! I'm also glad you support my PhineasXShima, um, pairing! So thanks! I danced around when I got your review, I was so happy! Anyway, please continue to read and review my story!**

**Isabella: Shi does not own any of the PnF characters. She does, however, own Shima and all of her other characters, so DO NOT STEAL THEM! If you want to use thm you must ask her permission first. Thanks and enjoy the story!**

**Perry: Grrrrrkrrrrr (roll chappy)!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

A Big Change

"Do you really have to go?"

"I'm afraid so."

Phineas, Ferb, and Shima were standing at the Danville train station. Shima was about to leave on a trip, and Phineas wasn't feeling too great about it.

"You act as if she's leaving forever and she's never coming back." Ferb muttered.

Phineas sighed. "It feels that way, doesn't it?"

"Please don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, okay? I promise." Shima looked at her friends worriedly, hoping that they'd cheer up.

"What should we do tomorrow…?" Phineas joked.

The three of them laughed. It was the day after the big fireworks festival they had, and earlier that day they had built giant flying saucers and flew around Danville for the remainder of the afternoon. It was now 7:00pm, and Shima was due to leave in only five minutes.

"Where are you going, anyway?" Ferb questioned.

"I'd rather keep that one a secret." Shima winked. "Let's just say I'm going on a business trip."

"Business trip, huh? I guess I can believe that." Phineas shrugged.

Suddenly the trio heard a loud voice echo over the intercom on the ceiling, "_All passengers due to leave on the train at 7:05, please come to train number 17. Let me repeat… All passengers due to leave on the train at 7:05, please come to train number 17._"

"That's me," Shima said. She quickly hugged her friends and ran off, calling, "I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"'Bye," Phineas murmured as he watched her leave. He sighed once again. "I miss her already."

Ferb placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be back before you know it. Come on, let's go home."

"'Kay." With that, the two set off for home, Shima on their minds.

* * *

><p>"<em>Arriva<em>! Hell-o, Danville!" A girl floated amongst the clouds, grinning. Her beautiful cloudy wings spread out from her back, lighting up the sky with a light blue glow.

"Tee hee hee. Shi Shi's sure going to be surprised when I show up tomorrow…" She touched a cloud with her hand, causing it to evaporate.

"Now, now…who were those boys she was hanging out with earlier…? Oh, right! Phineas and Ferb! They were so adorable!" She giggled madly.

"Time to explore." She shot off higher into the sky, her silhouette disappearing among the thick blanket of clouds.

* * *

><p>When Phineas and Ferb arrived home, they found a batch of brownies waiting for them on the kitchen table.<p>

"Yesss!" Phineas cried as he stuffed several brownies into his mouth. "I wove Candash cuking!"

"You shouldn't talk when you eat." Ferb scolded, nibbling a brownie.

"There you twerps are." Candace walked into the kitchen dressed in a night gown.

"Hello, Candace." Ferb greeted her.

"You guys went to go see Shima off, right?" She questioned.

"Yup!" Phineas nodded and quickly got a water bottle out of the fridge. He drained it instantly.

"Are you spending the night again, Candace?" Phineas asked her as he threw the bottle away.

"Yeah, I think so. But I can't stay much longer. Jeremy misses having me at the apartment. I'm only staying so Mom can help me make wedding plans."

"Oh…okay. Thanks for the brownies, Candace!" Phineas shoved a few more into his mouth and sighed in happiness. To him, Candace's cooking was a slice of Heaven…and Shima's was, too.

"Whatever…of course, Mom isn't really helping me, because all she cares about now is the inventions you guys make. She won't stop asking me what you guys did up 'til now."

"I can't believe she didn't figure it out." Ferb said.

"Me either. That mysterious force gave me some luck yesterday…" Candace picked up a brownie and ate it in several swift bites.

"You're still going on about that?" Phineas laughed as he tried snatching the last brownie. Unfortunately for him, Ferb got it first.

"No fair!" He whined.

"I only got, what, two brownies? You got…how many? Oh, that's right, you got seven." Ferb snickered as he gulped down the last brownie in seconds flat.

"You are a cruel, cruel person." Phineas whimpered sarcastically.

"Why, thank you." Ferb bowed, causing Phineas and Candace to burst into laughter.

"Okay, I'm tired." Phineas stated.

"It's only 7:30." Ferb told him with a raised eyebrow.

Phineas cracked a grin. "I want to get to sleep as soon as possible so I can see Shima tomorrow!"

Candace sighed. "Of course. Well, I'm off to bed." She gave them a half-hearted wave and headed up the stairs.

"Race you upstairs, bro!" Phineas laughed as he got a head start towards the stairs.

Ferb grinned and followed his brother, catching up to him with ease. He reached out and managed to grab Phineas's ankle, sending him crashing to the floor. Ferb took the lead, racing up the stairs as quick as lightning.

"No fair! You cheated!" Phineas whined as he scrambled to his feet.

They burst into laughter as they crashed on the beds in their shared room.

"Not…bad, bro…" Phineas wheezed.

"You…too…" Ferb chuckled.

Phineas let out a long sigh and turned over. The moon was shining brightly, casting rays of moonlight into their small bedroom. Phineas blinked as a thought crossed his mind: the moon reminded him of Shima. It was beautiful, yes, but it hid many secrets, just like her.

"I wonder what she's hiding from us…?" He mused as he tried to think of the possibilities.

"She'll tell us eventually." Ferb shrugged.

"I guess so." Phineas muttered, stuffing his face into a fluffy pillow. He couldn't help but yawn; the pillow was soft, and he had just realized how exhausted he was.

"Tired?" Ferb asked, and his brother just replied with a drowsy yawn.

"Goodnight…" Phineas mumbled, already halfway asleep.

Ferb grinned. Even though his brother seemed to be always energetic during the day, he'd sleep so soundly at night.

_This summer sure has been fun…but it's been exhausting, too._ Ferb thought hazily. His mind was beginning to shut down and give in to the sleep he needed so badly.

'_Night…Phineas… _He thought before his eyes fluttered and closed.

* * *

><p>The next day was another beautiful one: the sun was shining proudly in the sky, clouds were drifting past, promising distant rain. A cool breeze blew and tickled the grass, while the trees danced in the wind. Birds sang their morning song, waking up everyone sleeping around them.<p>

Phineas found himself and his brother sitting under that same tree they'd always sit under on a normal summer day. He sighed; without his perky friend around that day felt meaningless.

Shima would always brighten up his day in some way. It felt strange to not have her around; Phineas was already missing the sound of her voice and her great enthusiasm. He pursed his lips and started to dig up the grass with the heels of his shoes in boredom.

"What are you doing?" Ferb asked, one eye looking at his brother lazily, the other closed.

"I dunno." Phineas mumbled. Dirt was beginning to appear as he continued his small attack on the grass beneath his feet.

"What do you want to do today?" Ferb questioned as he watched Phineas with interest.

"I dunno…" Phineas replied glumly.

Ferb punched his step-brother in the shoulder in an effort to try to get him motivated to do something, but it didn't work that well.

"What?" Phineas groaned in frustration. For some reason he kept getting angrier, even though the process was happening quite slowly.

"Think." Ferb growled, glaring at Phineas.

"Think…" Phineas repeated his words dazedly. "I _don't_ know what we're gonna do today…" He sang softly.

Ferb groaned inwardly; why was Phineas being so stubborn?

"Come _on_," Ferb urged. "We need to do something productive today or I'm going to explode."

"Like a firework?" Phineas asked sadly, looking at his brother for the first time that day with a depressed blue gaze.

Ferb didn't know how to reply. He had never seen his brother so sad about a friend that had left to go on a trip before. Even when his parents would leave on a vacation Phineas would say, 'Have fun! Make sure to bring back a soveneir for us!'...or something related to that sentence.

"…I suppose so." He murmured, looking at Phineas worriedly.

_I need to get his mind off of Shima or he'll _really_ start to get depressed,_ Ferb thought determinedly.

"…_Building a rocket or fighting a mummy, climbing up the Eiffel Tower…_" He sang, hoping his brother would catch on. When Phineas didn't reply, he continued, "_Discovering something that doesn't exist, or giving a monkey a shower…_"

"_Surfing tidal waves…_" Ferb sang.

"…_Creating nanobots…_" Phineas whispered as a smile began to form on his face.

"_Or locating Frankenstein's brain._" Ferb hummed, nudging his brother.

"_Finding a dodo bird…_" Phineas smiled as his spirits began to lift.

"_Painting a continent,_" Ferb continued.

"_Or driving our sister insane!_" They both sang loudly.

"_This could possibly be the best day ever,_" They sang in harmony, "_And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be a million and six times better!_"

"_So make every minute count, jump up, jump in and seize the day…_" Phineas chimed.

"_And_ _let's make sure that in every single possible way…_" Ferb chirped.

"_Today is gonna be a great day!_" They concluded happily.

Phineas grinned and laughed, giving his brother a friendly nudge. "Thanks, Ferb," He said, smiling. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

"Now _that's_ more like the Phineas I know," Ferb said, chuckling.

Their moment was interrupted by a strangely familiar voice from the other side of their backyard fence, calling, "Oh! So here you were!"

Phineas and Ferb froze on the spot, their eyes darting to the fence gate. The latch slowly opened and a shockingly familiar person stepped inside, eyes shining brightly.

Upon seeing this person, both of their jaws dropped in astonishment-not to mention the fact that they both did a double-take.

It _was_ her, but it _wasn't_ her at the same time.

There stood Shima, looking as cute as ever-she wore a tiny black sweater and a navy blue tanktop with flower designs on it. She wore a short, dark blue skirt with white stripes and on her feet were black flats with little bows on top. Her hair was, surprisingly, very curly, but the same two strands of hair had fallen loose and hung by her shoulders (these strands being curled up as well). A single rose was holding her hair up; whether it was real or not the step-brothers couldn't tell from a distance. And what was the most surprising was her face: She wore blush and lipstick and mascara-they could easily tell because Isabella would sometimes wear that kind of makeup, depending on the occasion. A strange thing Phineas noticed, though, was her eyes. Instead of the normal lavender color they were, they were sky blue.

"Sh…Shi…?" Phineas gawked, unable to say her name correctly. Was that really her?

"What's up?" She greeted them cutely.

"Why are you here? I thought you said you wouldn't be back until this afternoon…" Ferb questioned her suspiciously.

"Oh…well…" She paused for a moment, and then she giggled. "I just couldn't stay away from you guys!" She ran over to them and pulled them into an embrace. "I missed you too much!"

Phineas and Ferb awkwardly hugged her back.

"Acting strange?" Phineas mouthed to his brother while Shima wasn't looking.

"Definitely," Ferb agreed in a whisper.

The girl pulled away and smiled at them, flashing her brilliant white teeth. "So, what are we going to do today?"

"Er…I haven't figured that out yet…" Phineas replied nervously.

"Ehh? Why not?" Shima asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"He couldn't think of anything because he couldn't stop thinking about you," Ferb teased, causing Phineas to turn crimson.

"F-F-Ferb Fletcher!" Phineas stuttered, his face glowing.

"Yes, Phineas Flynn?" Ferb said, laughing.

"Aww, that's so cute! I missed you too, Phineas." Shima said, winking at him.

Phineas had to mentally slap himself so he wouldn't get a nosebleed and pass out. "Y-yeah?" He stammered.

"Why are your eyes a different color, Shima?" Ferb questioned.

The girls' eyes sparkled for a moment, and then she smirked. "Oh, I see how it is," She said.

"Wha…?" Phineas said dumbly.

Shima shook her head. "Nevermind. It's a secret~" She said, giggling to herself.

"Is that so?" Ferb asked quietly, his eyes narrowing. "You've put on some makeup as well, as I can see."

"That's right!" Shima said, winking again. "Don't I look better with makeup on?"

Phineas blinked in surprise. Usually Shima wouldn't care about her appearance, she had always said that she liked the way she was.

_Now she's got makeup, different colored eyes and a different hairstyle…_Phineas mused.

"Shima…are you feeling okay?" Phineas asked her worriedly.

Shima blinked at him for a moment and then sighed. "I'm fine. I'm just tired…I had a really long trip!"

"I see…" He murmured, looking away.

"_So,_" She said, "What are we gonna do today?"

"Hmm…" Phineas pondered. They had done a lot of things lately, so he couldn't really think of anything that was really inspiring.

"I got it!" Shima suddenly said, tapping a closed fist onto her open palm. "Karaoke!"

"Karaoke?" Phineas and Ferb repeated, looking confused.

"Let's make a karaoke studio!" Shima said, pumping a fist into the air.

"Karaoke…studio?" Phineas gaped.

"Yeah!" She grinned. "I really feel like singing something right now!"

"Wait, what?" Phineas arched his eyebrow in confusion.

Shima had told him once, _"I enjoy singing, but sometimes I just get shy about it. I'd rather prefer to do other activities instead of sing in front of an audience."_

_So…now she wants to sing?_ Phineas wondered. _Arrgh, _he thought, clutching his head,_ I'm so confused!_

"_Please?_ Can we _please_ make a karaoke studio?" Shima whined. "We can invite everyone from the neighborhood! _Please,_ Phineas?" She begged him with pouted lips. When she looked at him like that…

He couldn't resist.

"Oh, alright," Phineas gave in with a sigh.

"Yay! Yay!" She squealed, bouncing around happily.

The corner of Phineas' mouth twitched upward in a slight smile. _She acts like a little kid…_he thought affectionately. _Look who's talking,_ a voice in the back of his head teased. Phineas chuckled quietly to himself. _That's true,_ he agreed with the voice, who hummed in satisfaction.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Ferb nudged him, imitating Isabella's tone of voice when she asked, _"Whatcha doin'?"_

Phineas shook his head and smiled. "Nothing," He replied. "I'm just glad that Shima's back."

"Even though she's acting a bit…_strange_?" Ferb said hesitantly, hoping his brother wouldn't get mad at him.

Phineas paused for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I guess."

Ferb looked at his brother curiously. He was watching Shima dance about with amusement, dark blue eyes shining happily and a slight pink tinge on his cheeks.

Ferb looked at the girl and smiled. He was glad that Phineas had cheered up once again.

"So," He said, looking at his brother, "shall we begin the construction process?"

Phineas snickered at his fancy usage of words and said, "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Perry looked around suspiciously, and after making sure no one was watching, slipped on his fedora and slid down a hidden chute in Candace's old closet.<p>

He landed in his familiar red chair as Monogram's face appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Agent P," Monogram greeted him. "It seems we have a small problem on our hands; Doof doesn't seem to be home today, actually, he doesn't seem to be in Danville at all right now."

Perry chattered nervously; what could Doofenshmirtz be up to this time?

"Well, either he's on vacation or he's up to something evil again." Monogram mused, stroking his chin with his hand.

"I've located Doofenshmirtz's location, sir!" A geeky voice sounded from offscreen. It was Carl, Monogram's assistant.

"Good timing, Carl! Pull it up onscreen."

A picture of Hawaii appeared. Carl zoomed in until the screen showed a resort by the name of 'Tiki Tiki Resort'. The screen was blurry, but Perry could see the vaguely familiar shape of Doofenshmirtz, who appeared to be lounging by the pool.

Perry sighed. His arch nemesis had taken a vacation. Was it because of the 'Peace-Inator' he had created the day before (much to Perry's annoyance)?

"Well, that's…surprising." Monogram commented awkwardly. "Anyway, Agent P, since Doof's in Hawaii, and since he doesn't appear to be doing anything suspicious, you can just have the day off."

Perry changed his mind: perhaps it wasn't so bad that Doof was taking a vacation. A day off was a rare occasion for the always-occupied agent.

"But don't expect any more from me, Agent P. Doof'll probably be back by tomorrow, so you'll have to get back to work, you hear me?"

Perry nodded energetically and saluted Monogram before putting his fedora away and going back up the pipe that lead into the Flynn-Fletcher household.

* * *

><p>"It's all finished!" Phineas declared as Shima gawked at the enormous studio in their backyard, including flashing lights at the entrance. The karaoke studio had only been built in 20 minutes flat, thanks to Phineas and Ferb's special contraptions.<p>

"So…" Phineas turned to Shima. "Do you like it?" He asked hopefully.

Shima suddenly scrunched up her face in anticipation. Phineas was worried that she'd say she hated it but instead she practically jumped on him.

"Phineas Flynn I love it so much _thank you thank you thank you!_" Shima squealed loudly, hugging him so tight he was choking.

"No…pro…blem…!" Phineas wheezed.

"Come on, Shima, let him go," Ferb chuckled, pulling the girl off of his brother with great difficulty.

Phineas took a deep breath as she released him and felt the blood coming back to his lungs.

"It's beautiful…" Shima breathed, her eyes shining brightly.

"Thanks, I'm glad you like i-"

"Let's go!" Shima cried, grabbing both Phineas and Ferb's arms and charging inside with endless amounts of energy.

"Wow…" Shima stared around in amazement at the inside of the studio.

There was a large stage at the back with fancy red curtains and a single microphone sitting on its post at the front of the stage. On the wall closest to the entrance was a large, blank screen; Shima figured it was where the singer would read the lyrics to their song of choice. Tables and chairs were situated everywhere so it looked like some kind of dinner party.

"Amazing," She whispered, her eyes wide.

"So, um...what do you-"

"Yaay! I'm first, I'm first!" Shima shot through the chairs and tables like a rocket and within seconds she was standing on the stage with a confident pose.

"A bit energetic today, are we?" Ferb questioned.

Phineas rubbed the back of his neck, laughing. "I guess so!" He looked up at Shima, who was testing the microphone. "Well, there's a dressing room backstage, so you can go get ready while we pass out flyers and stuff, okay?"

"Okey-dokey!" Shima called back to him with a thumbs-up.

Phineas glanced at Ferb, who nodded, and the two exited the studio.

Shima smiled. She looked around for a while before heading backstage. There were several dressing rooms, so she just decided to pick the largest. Inside was a huge mirror with the show-biz lights surrounding it. She flicked the light on, gasping as it almost blinded her with its radiance. She let out another gasp as she spotted tons of costumes situated on a rack nearby. She pulled one out; it was a sparkly dark blue dress with black straps. On the floor were matching heels to go with it.

_Wow,_ She thought, _They really went all out this time!_

After searching through the sea of costume choices for about ten minutes, she found a short black dress with red lace and plain black boots. Grinning, she pulled it off of the rack and faced the mirror. She nodded to herself before setting her choice on the counter below the mirror. She then picked out a little white sweater. Holding it up to herself, she decided it fit, and started to get changed.

When she finished, she did a few twirls around and laughed to herself.

_I can't believe they haven't figured it out yet! Boys are _so_ gullible._

Deciding that she was ready, she stepped out of the dressing room and looked around. Nobody seemed to be here yet, so she went back inside the room and decided to fix her hair and makeup.

* * *

><p>Phineas got on his bike while Ferb chose to ride his skateboard. The two held up flyers that read, <em>"Are you so bored that you feel like singing? Come to the Karaoke Studio and have a good time! Bring your friends and family to see who has the best voice! Located in Phineas and Ferb's backyard."<em>

"Ready?" Phineas asked, grinning.

Ferb nodded and the two were off just like that.

They practically flew through the suburbs, calling loudly for people to come outside and see what they created. Flyers were handed, tossed, and even thrown to people. They were about to finish passing the remainder of the flyers out when they nearly crashed into Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet.

"Watch it, Dinner Bell!" Buford warned as Phineas regained his balance.

"Hey, guys," Phineas greeted them.

"Hey, Phineas." Isabella said, smiling. "Whatcha _doin'_?"

"Passing out flyers," He said, handing them some. "Here. Take a look."

"_'Are you so bored that you feel like singing?'_" Baljeet read aloud. "_'Come to the Karaoke Studio and'_...oh, wow! You are building a karaoke studio?"

"Actually, it's already finished being built," Ferb pointed out.

"Wow! That's so cool. And everyone can perform?" Isabella asked.

"Yup. This is how it works: a random song is chosen and the singer has to sing it. After everyone has gone, Ferb and I will decide who was the best. Of course, this means we can't participate, but we're okay with that." Phineas explained.

"That is very cool!" Baljeet commented.

"Where were you guys all day, anyway?" Phineas asked them.

"I was at the dentist," Isabella said.

"I was busy doing complicated math problems at home," Baljeet said.

"I was at the mall. Ya know, makin' fun of the nerds that were hangin' out there." Buford said, grinning mischievously.

"Well, now that you're all finished with, well, whatever you were doing, let's go." Phineas said, pointing in the direction of his house.

"Okay," The rest of them agreed.

* * *

><p><em>Where are they?<em> Shima thought, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

Then she heard voices.

Peeking out of the curtains, she spotted Phineas, Ferb, and a whole crowd of people following them into the studio.

"Shima? You back there?" Phineas called.

She saw a girl with black hair beside him exclaim, "Shima's back? I thought she wouldn't be back until later today."

"I'm here," Shima replied, waving at them from behind the curtains.

The girl with the black hair gawked, as did the other two boys beside her.

_Surprised?_ She thought giddily.

"Good. We're gonna start the show, okay?" Phineas asked.

"Yup! I'm ready as ever!" Shima replied enthusiastically.

"_That's_ Star?" She heard another boy remark.

Shima giggled to herself and skipped over to the awaiting microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Karaoke Studio!" She heard Phineas's voice echo off the walls of the studio. The crowd cheered loudly and the clinking of glasses was heard.

"Here are the rules to the competition we are having today! A random song is chosen and the singer has to sing it. After everyone has gone, Ferb and I will decide who was the best. Whoever we decide was the best is the winner!"

The crowd cheered once more before the noise died down.

"And now, for our first performance, we have my best friend, Shima Hoshi!"

The audience roared as the curtains opened, revealing Shima standing there.

Phineas blushed at her choice of outfit before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He turned back to the audience, some of which were still clapping and hooting.

"And the song choice is...drum roll, Ferb!"

Ferb took his drum sticks and began to drum, his hands like lightning.

The large, blank screen at the back whirred. The screen stopped at the song name.

It read, "Last Friday Night: Katy Perry."

"Hmm," Phineas mused to himself, away from the microphone, "It seems she's doing a lot of Katy Perry lately."

He hopped off of his stool and ran into the audience. After taking his seat by Isabella and his brother, who still held the drum sticks and the little drum he was carrying, looked up at the stage.

"Phineas...I don't think she can pull this one off," He heard Isabella hiss into his ear.

"Why not? I've never heard this song before, so I'm kind of excited."

He heard Isabella giggle. Turning around to face her, he asked, "What?"

"No wonder you have no idea what I'm talking about," Isabella chuckled. "Just you wait, Phineas. You should pay attention to the lyrics in this song and think about whether they suit Shima or not."

Phineas looked at her, mystified, and turned back around. Shima had just started the song.

Shima looked straight at him and smirked. Her sky blue eyes glittered mischievously and she began to sing.

"_There's a stranger in my bed,__  
><em>

_There's a pounding in my head  
><em>

_Glitter all over the room,  
><em>

_Pink flamingos in the pool  
><em>

_I smell like a minibar  
><em>

_DJ's passed out in the yard  
><em>

_Barbie's on the barbeque  
><em>

_This a hickey or a bruise?_"

Immediately, Phineas's face went tomato red and he heard Isabella whisper in his ear, "See what I'm talking about?"

"W-wh-who put this song on the list?!" He muttered to Ferb.

"I did."

"_What?!_"

Ferb nudged him and he was forced to look back at the stage, eyes wide.

"_Pictures of last night_

_Ended up online  
><em>

_I'm screwed!  
><em>

_Oh well.  
><em>

_It's a blacked out blur  
><em>

_But I'm pretty sure__  
><em>

_It ruled...  
><em>

_Damn!_"

"Why did you put this on?!" Phineas whined, his face still crimson.

"You said we should put on the new, popular songs. And this one's almost at the top of the chart." Ferb replied, grinning.

"_Fer-_"

"_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah we danced on tabletops  
><em>

_And we took too many shots  
><em>

_Think we kissed but I forgot...  
><em>

_"Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah, we maxed our credit cards  
><em>

_And got kicked out of the bar  
><em>

_So we hit the boulevard...  
><em>

_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_We went streaking in the park,  
><em>

_Skinny dipping in the dark,  
><em>

_Then had a menage a trois  
><em>

_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah I think we broke the law,  
><em>

_Always say we're gonna sto-op, whoa!  
><em>

_This Friday night  
><em>

_Do it all again!  
><em>

_This Friday night  
><em>

_Do it all again!_"

Shima danced around, winking at the crowd with a devilish smile.

"What's wrong, Dinner Bell?" Buford taunted. "Can't handle a slightly suggestive song?"

Phineas smacked his head on the table, trying his best to prevent a disastrous nosebleed while Isabella and Baljeet giggled like crazy.

"Everyone else seems to like it," Ferb chuckled, giving Buford a high-five.

He was right; the audience was either dancing, singing along, or just watching intently as Shima paraded around the stage, her voice echoing around the walls of the studio loud and clear.

"_Trying to connect the dots,  
><em>

_Don't know what to tell my boss!  
><em>

_Think the city towed my car,  
><em>

_Chandelier is on the floor...  
><em>

_Ripped my favorite party dress,  
><em>

_Warrants out for my arrest,  
><em>

_Think I need a ginger ale...  
><em>

_That was such an epic fail!_"

By now, the entire crowd was on their feet and dancing or singing along. Shima continued to sing; she put her hand on her hip and swayed from side to side to the beat.

Phineas remained seated, looking at Shima with his mouth half-open and face glowing red, his friends laughing hysterically at his state.

"_Pictures of last night  
><em>

_Ended up online  
><em>

_I'm screwed!  
><em>

_Oh well.  
><em>

_It's a blacked out blur  
><em>

_But I'm pretty sure  
><em>

_It ruled...  
><em>

_Damn!_"

"Come on, Phineas, you should show at least a little support!" Baljeet laughed, patting him on the shoulder.

"S-Sh-Sh-!"

"Spit it out already, Dinner Bell!" Buford snapped.

"Shima's...! S-she's...acting r-really weird!" Phineas managed to stutter.

"I like it," Isabella grinned. She really didn't care. The only thing she was enjoying right now was the fact that Phineas was blushing madly, even though it wasn't because of her.

"_ Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah we danced on tabletops  
><em>

_And we took too many shots  
><em>

_Think we kissed but I forgot...  
><em>

_"Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah, we maxed our credit cards  
><em>

_And got kicked out of the bar  
><em>

_So we hit the boulevard...  
><em>

_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_We went streaking in the park,  
><em>

_Skinny dipping in the dark,  
><em>

_Then had a menage a trois  
><em>

_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah I think we broke the law,  
><em>

_Always say we're gonna sto-op, whoa!  
><em>

_But this Friday night  
><em>

_Do it all again!  
><em>

_This Friday night  
><em>

_Do it all again!"_

"Sing with me!" Shima shouted to the audience.

"_T.G.I.F.!  
><em>

_T.G.I.F.!  
><em>

_T.G.I.F.!  
><em>

_T.G.I.F.!  
><em>

_T.G.I.F.!  
><em>

_T.G.I.F.!  
><em>

_T.G.I.F.!_"

Everyone in the crowd had their hands up and chanted along with her, laughing and dancing.

Shima pretended to play a saxophone as the audience screamed and sang at the top of their lungs.

"_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah we danced on tabletops  
><em>

_And we took too many shots  
><em>

_Think we kissed but I forgot...  
><em>

_"Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah, we maxed our credit cards  
><em>

_And got kicked out of the bar  
><em>

_So we hit the boulevard...  
><em>

_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_We went streaking in the park,  
><em>

_Skinny dipping in the dark,  
><em>

_Then had a menage a trois  
><em>

_Last Friday night!  
><em>

_Yeah I think we broke the law,  
><em>

_Always say we're gonna sto-op, whoa!  
><em>

_This Friday night  
><em>

_Do it all again!_"

And just like that, the song ended. The audience erupted into cheers and "encore"s as Shima took a bow and ran down the steps to greet Phineas, who had covered his face with his hands in embarrassment.

"Did you like it?" She giggled, looking at Phineas's flushed face.

"W-we need to t-talk," Phineas mumbled, grabbing her hand and his brother's and heading outside of the studio.

They could hear their friends laughter behind them as they left.

"What's up?" Shima asked as they stepped onto the grass below.

"Um, w-well, that is..."

"Phineas? Ferb? I'm back..."

All three of them froze. An icy chill crept up Phineas's spine as he watched the fence gate open.

"Wha..."

Phineas and Ferb stared at the newcomer in shock. They looked from the newcomer to Shima, the newcomer to Shima, the newcomer to Shima...

"_W-w-w-why are there two Shima's?!_"

* * *

><p><strong>Okey dokey, guys! That was a hard chapter to write. Anyway, review please! Even for those of you who don't have accounts...and others who are too shy to post a review, just do it! I promise it'll make my day. The links aren't working so just go to you tube and search it up.<strong>

**Last Friday Night (Katy Perry)**


	8. The Unexpected

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, guys! It hasn't been a while! I only posted the last chapter, like, a week ago, so...so far, no reviews. I'm sad. :-( Anyway, new chapter! I say that every time, don't I? Huhh...well, anyway...there's a lot of SHOCKING stuff in this chapter...ooh, I'm so super duper eggsited (just felt like spelling it that way)! Siiiiigggghhh...I'm so sad. No reviews. Waaaaaahhh... _**

**Phineas: It's okay, Shi.**

**Shima: Cheer up!**

**Shi: -sniffs- Thanks, guys.**

**Shima: There is _one_ review.**

**Shi: REALLY?**

**Phineas: You know her, don't you?**

**Shi: Tee hee hee. Yes, I do. We go to the same school. She's a very good friend of mine. And so, very good friend of mine...THANK YOU! I will continue writing, so continue reading, please! Okay, now for the disclaimer.**

**Phineas: Star does not own PnF in any way! She does own her own characters so no stealing or using them without asking first! Enjoy the story! -smiles cutely-**

**Shi: Oh eeeem geeeee! Phineas, you're sooooo cuuutee!**

**Shima: ... Roll chappy (he's mine, darnit!)!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

The Unexpected

"_W-w-w-why are there two Shima's?!_"

"Sh...Shira?!" The Shima at the gate said, her eyes wide.

The Shima beside Phineas and Ferb remained silent for a moment, and then she smiled softly. "Looks like the gig's up," She said.

The Shima closest to them walked forward and turned around to face them. Then she dipped her head politely.

"Hi, guys. I'm Shira, Shima's twin sister. The real Shima is over there." She pointed at the Shima standing at the gate.

The Shima at the gate was wearing a short, strapless blue dress and a long, white coat over it. The coat had no zippers or buttons, so it was open. She also wore black boots with X's on them. Around her neck hung the usual necklace, and her lavender eyes were shining with confusion.

Phineas and Ferb knew this was the _real_ Shima. Then they realized what Shira had just said.

"_Y-you have a twin sister?!_" Phineas and Ferb both cried at the same time.

"Shira, why...why are you here?" Shima said, not able to believe she was seeing. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

Shira turned around with the hugest smile on her face. "Shi Shi!" She squealed, running over to glomp her sister.

"Sh-Shira! Get off!" Shima whined as Shira hugged her tighter than ever.

Shira reluctantly let go, grinning at her sister, who looked shocked out of her mind.

"What are you doing here?!" Shima demanded, pointing at her sister, an accusing look written all over her face.

"I came all this way to see you, and all I get is a 'What are you doing here'? You're so mean, Shi Shi!" Shira said, sniffing exaggeratingly and crossing her arms.

"I...I mean...how did you...?"

"RP let me come here," Shira said with a wink. She wiggled one of her fingers in the air.

"RP!? How is he? How is everyone else? Has you-know-who found out where I am yet? How's Himeka? And Colin? And Fyuuki? And Colin? And RP? And Dusk? And RP? And Nozomi? And Johnny? And RP? And-"

"_Shut up!_" Shira screamed, glaring daggers at Shima. "Jeez, you never learn when to keep quiet. And why did you ask about RP so much? He's _fine_. Everyone's _fine_. _They're all fine_. But..." She sighed, "...they miss you." She said the last sentence with a hint of sadness in her tone.

Phineas and Ferb watched the sisters' confrontation silently, unsure of what to say...or maybe they were just so surprised they couldn't say anything.

Shima fidgeted before asking quietly, "How were you able to leave with all of that commotion going on?"

"...It wasn't easy. RP had to make sure Dia-"

"You-know-who," Shima corrected her sternly.

"Whatever," Shira growled. "Anyway, RP had to make sure he wasn't tracking my location. Then he sent me off as quickly as possible before Dia-"

"_You-know-who!_" Shima hissed, her hands balling up into fists at her sides.

"Whatever! Ugh. He had to send me off before you-know-who could detect any dimensional activity." Shira said, putting her hands on her hips.

Shima sighed, her eyes shining with relief. "So he doesn't know you left?"

"Not yet. But I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually." Shira said with a shrug.

"Shira!" Shima cried, looking extremely worried.

"Chill, big sis," Shira laughed, placing a hand on Shima's shoulder. "Even if he does find out I left, there's no way he'd be able to find me-or rather, us-here."

"Thank goodness," Shima sighed once again. She said nothing for a while, and then she suddenly looked very angry.

"...Wait a minute!" Shima snarled. "You mean RP allowed you to come here?! Why did _you_ come instead of _him_?!"

"Shi Shi! That's so mean!" Shira gasped, really looking hurt this time.

"I mean...why didn't he come?" Shima said, her eyes glazing over with sadness.

"You know he's the one in charge while you're gone, right?" Shira told her gently. "Besides, I'm your sister." Fake tears started to form in her eyes, but Shima thought they were real. "Didn't you miss me at all?"

"Y...yeah..." Shima muttered, shuffling her feet.

"Excuse me, what was that?" Shira said, leaning in and cupping a hand around her ear. Her eyes shone with amusement.

Shima glared at her before replying through clenched teeth, "I...missed...you."

"Aww, Shi Shi, I missed you too!" Shira giggled, attaching herself to Shima once again.

"Shira! Stop it!" Shima complained while Shira squeezed the air out of her lungs.

After Shira released her (again) Shima looked at her best friends, who were still as silent as ever. And for Phineas, this was a record. Never before had he been silent for this long.

"Wait..." Shima looked at her sister, horror sparking in her eyes. "D-don't tell me...you didn't pretend you were me and mess around with them, did you?"

Shira looked at her for a moment and then burst into a fit of giggles.

"_Shira!_" Shima whined.

"I was...only playing with them a l-little," Shira chuckled.

"Shira, I specifically told you _not_ to do that!" Shima said frantically.

"No...you didn't," Shira retorted through a giggle, clutching her sides.

"You shouldn't have done that!"

"Bu...but...the look on Phineas' face when I sang that song...it was priceless...!" Shira choked, laughing uncontrollably.

Phineas' face turned almost as red as his hair as she said this, but he still didn't utter a word. He looked down at his shoes and pulled on his shirt uncomfortably.

"No...Shira...!" Shima wailed loudly and buried her face in her hands. Then her head shot up, her eyes wide again. "Wait...what song?"

"I sang 'Last Friday Night' by Katy Perry."

Shima's jaw dropped. When she thought of 'Last Friday Night' and 'Shira'...

Bad combination.

Her gaze shot straight to Phineas, who's face was so red, he could've been mistaken for a cherry.

"SHIRA!" Shima screamed, her face now as red as Phineas'.

Shira burst into laughter once more and Shima glared at her sister fiercely, hoping she'd catch on fire.

"You...you two seem to fight quite a lot," Ferb finally managed to say.

"Yeah, I know." Shira sighed contentedly. "Ahh, sisterly love. It's the best kind."

"Yeah, right," Shima hissed, still staring at her sister through narrowed eyes.

"I mean, Shima and I are _completely_ different. I'm talented, beautiful, and confident, while she's shy, boring, and has no talent whatsoever!"

Shima's arm shot straight out and punched her sister in the arm..._hard_.

"Ouch! I wasn't finished yet!" Shira said, wincing. "Like I was saying...ow...she's got the power. Like, strengthwise...dang it, Shi Shi, that hurt!"

"You deserved it. You know I have talent." Shima shot back.

"Oh yeah?" Shira said, looking at her sister with a hint of disdain in her voice.

"Yeah! Everyone knows I can sing _way _better than you." Shima grinned, knowing this would tick Shira off. Shira always liked being better than everyone else-especially when it came to singing.

"That's _so_ not true!" Shira snarled, her sky blue eyes pools of fury.

"Yeah, well, remember that time we had that singing contest back home?" Shima questioned, raising her eyebrows. "Who won that one, huh?"

Shira's face went red with anger. "You did _not_ deserve that trophy! _I_ did!"

"Sure, sure, whatever. But you can't change the fact that _I beat your sorry butt._"

"Oh, it's ON!" Shira shrieked.

She stomped over to Phineas with impossible speed and wrapped her arms around his chest. "We're having a contest!" She declared while Phineas stammered in surprise-not to mention the fact that he blushed again. "And this guy's the prize!"

"H-hey! That's not fair!" Phineas stuttered, finally able to speak up.

"_What?_" Shima growled. Phineas could've sworn her eyes turned red for a split second.

"You're going to go sing in there," Shira said, pointing with one hand to the Karaoke Studio. "And if you get more applause than I did on my song, you can have him."

"Wait, since when did _Phineas_ become the prize?!" Ferb demanded.

"But if _I_ win..." Shira smirked, "Phineas here becomes my new boyfriend."

"WHAT?!" Shima, Phineas, and Ferb all shouted at the same time.

"Yeah!" She giggled, nuzzling her head against his cheek. Phineas' legs began to wobble and he could hardly see through the blush that spread across his cheeks. "I need a new boyfriend. And Phineas here is just _so_ cute!"

"_Shira..._" Shima snarled furiously, her eyes now a dark cloud of anger.

"Whatcha gonna do, Shi Shi?" Shira taunted.

"_You know what I'm gonna do,_" Shima's necklace began to glow eerily and Phineas heard Shira gulp loudly behind him.

"Uh...l-let's not go _too_ far, Shima," Shira said nervously.

"_You. Are. So. Dead._" Shima uttered each word slowly and dangerously and watched as the words sunk in.

This time, Phineas gulped. He had never seen Shima look so serious-and angry-before.

"O...o...okay...calm down, Shima...let's just...take it down a notch..." Shira let Phineas go and he watched her back away, her blue eyes looking slightly panicked.

Shima slowly relaxed. Her eyes returned to their normal color and her shoulders slowly lowered. She glared at her sister and muttered, "I'm gonna win this thing." And with that, she stomped inside of the Karaoke Studio without a word.

Phineas, Ferb, and Shira followed her in with hesitance. They weren't sure how to deal with her when she was in this kind of mood.

As they followed her inside, Shira began to calm down.

_That was close, _she thought. _I could've been seriously hurt if I had taunted her any more._

She decided that she was back down to the level where she could make fun of her sister again.

As they entered the studio, they saw Shima march through the array of tables and chairs and onto the stage. Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet stared at her in shock before they turned to look at who else had returned.

Their jaws dropped.

_Am I seeing _two_ Shima's?_ Isabella thought, eyes wide.

"Give me that microphone!" Shima snapped to the kid who was currently singing onstage.

Phineas and Ferb had programmed the studio to continue playing songs even when they weren't there, so they figured that about half of the audience had had their turns on stage.

The kid gulped and handed her the microphone. Then he scurried offstage.

Shima pointed at her sister and shouted, "I'm going to win this, Shira!"

"Oh yeah? Well, show me what you got, Shima."

Shima smirked before replying, "Gladly, little sis."

She pointed to the screen at the back of the studio and said, "Hit it!"

The song began to play. Shima took a few deep breaths to compose herself and get into her singing mode.

"_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_"

The audience watched with interest as the Shima began to sing.

"_There's a place I know,__  
><em>

_It's always jumping  
><em>

_I'm thinking we should go and leave our worries!_

_You got a friend in need,__  
><em>

_And I'll tell you something  
><em>

_This time could be extraordinary!_"

Phineas smiled. He could tell the crowd was already liking this song.

"_When shadows fall you're feeling small,__  
><em>

_It looks like walls are closing in  
><em>

_Don't be afraid the dark will fade,__  
><em>

_Just take my hand and look again!_"

Several of the audience members began to sing along and the others continued to watch the singer, intrigued by her voice.

Shira glared at her.

_How could she already be so good and the song just started?!_ She thought furiously.

"_This side of paradise, is where I want to be,  
><em>

_This side of paradise, for you and me!  
><em>

_This side of paradise, what you get is what you see__...__  
><em>

_And I never thought I'd see a place as nice, this side of paradise!_"

The crowd sang along as Shima continued, "_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
>La la la la la, la la la la la!<em>"

Shira growled as many people stood up and began to dance.

Phineas swayed from side to side, ignoring his friends' stares and looks of disbelief. Apparently, they were still trying to wrap their minds around the fact that there were two Shima's in the same room.

"_We're gonna take a ride!__  
><em>

_We're gonna catch that train.  
><em>

_When you're at my side the world has hope! And…_"

Ferb began to hum along, his spirits lifting as Shima sang out to them, erasing all of his worries and fears for just that moment.

"_As we pass on by, we all look the same__  
><em>

_The clouds are high, the world is open!  
><em>

_Forget about the pain and doubt!__  
><em>

_Your happiness is overdue...  
><em>

_I've been dreaming of, dream, the skies above  
><em>

_Dancing through the stars with you, oh take me too!_"

Phineas and his brother began to sing along, laughing as they watched the audience do several strange and funny dance moves.

Shira looked around in horror. _I'm losing! AGAIN!_

"_ This side of paradise, is where I want to be,  
><em>

_This side of paradise, for you and me!  
><em>

_This side of paradise, what you get is what you see__...__  
><em>

_And I never thought I'd see a place as nice, this side of paradise!_"

The crowd began to slowly sway their arms back and forth. Some people even had their cell phones out and were swaying to the music.

" _La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_"

The crowd was going wild now. People were cheering, singing, dancing, and even freaking out as Shima sang.

" _This side of paradise,  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_For you and me_

_This side of paradise,  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_"

Shira gritted her teeth and tried her best not to cry. But she was failing.

"_I am, dreaming,  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_This side of paradise,_

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_For you and me,_

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_"

The song continued on like this for a while, but nobody stopped what they were doing. The cheering, dancing and singing continued-and Shira was getting sick of it.

"_I am, dreaming,  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_This side of paradise,_

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_This side of paradise,_

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_For you and me,_

_La la la la la, la la la la la.  
><em>

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_

_OH! La la la la la, la la la la la._

_La la la la la, la la la la la!_"

The crowd went wild (and loudly exhaled through their mouths, much to Phineas' pleasure). People were screaming, some were still dancing, others had passed out on the floor (Baljeet being one of them), and the remainder were cheering and clapping loudly as possible.

Shira clenched her teeth and whined.

"You lose, Shira." Shima looked at her sister from onstage and grinned widely.

"O-oh, yeah? Well, next time I'll win..." Shima froze as her sister got a devilish smile on her face. "...Shi Shi."

The audience went silent. Everyone stared in Shima's direction, and she wished she could just disappear. Her face went extremely red as the crowd continued to stare at her.

"Shi Shi?"

"Is that a nickname?"

"Ahaha! That's so lame!"

"Shi Shi!"

"Shi Shi! What a stupid nickname!"

Shima looked like she was about to cry. The audience cackled and made fun of the silly nickname while Shima stood onstage, frozen.

Shira snickered. This was the worst kind of humiliation she could give her sister, and she was thoroughly enjoying it.

"That wasn't very nice, Shira," Ferb commented quietly.

"She deserved it," Shira snapped. "Everyone knows I should have won that."

"Phineas, what do yo-"

But Phineas had disappeared. Ferb looked around wildly; where had he gone? Suddenly, he spotted him. Phineas had crept up onto the stage and was leading Shima off towards the backstage area.

Ferb sighed with relief. No more humiliation.

* * *

><p>Soon, the show was over. Surprisingly, the studio had not been destroyed by some mysterious force. Everyone went home, including Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford. They had been confused as to why there were two Shima's, but Shima promised she'd explain everything to them later.<p>

After telling the two brothers that Shira would be living with her for a few weeks, Shima and her sister went home. Phineas had asked her just what was going on, but Shima simply said, "I'll tell you everything later, I promise."

And with that, Phineas and Ferb went inside. Their mother had just returned from work; she had been helping Lawrence out at the antique shop. She was disappointed to learn that she was unable to see the boys' invention on that day, but she was sure she'd see more in the days to come.

They ate dinner, took showers, said the usual phrase, "Oh, there you are, Perry," came up with new inventing ideas, and went to bed.

* * *

><p>It was the middle of the night. Everyone in the house was fast asleep.<p>

Phineas sighed contentedly. He was fast asleep, dreaming the sweetest of inventor dreams, when something interrupted his sleep.

A tap on his shoulder.

Phineas didn't stir. He moaned quietly, shifting in his sleep.

This time, a shove.

Phineas' eyes shot open. He opened his mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Shh," The voice hissed from behind.

Phineas, upon hearing the familiar voice, relaxed. The intruder removed their hand from his mouth and Phineas turned to face them, his eyes shining with relief.

"Jeez, you scared me half to death," He complained quietly.

"Sorry," Shima muttered, rubbing her arm. Her lavender eyes glowed in the darkness.

Phineas sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing here? It's, like...one in the morning."

"Sorry." Shima apologized again. "I...need to talk to you."

"About what?" Phineas asked, not understanding what she was asking.

Shima glared at him and mumbled, "In private, dummy."

"O-oh!" Phineas blushed at his mistake. "Yeah, sure. Where are we going?"

Shima looked at him gratefully. She took his hand, not bothering to answer his question, and led him out of the room.

They crept down the stairs. Phineas couldn't help but blush; Shima still hadn't let go of his hand yet. She took him into the backyard. Phineas looked at her curiously before asking, "What is it?"

Shima shook her head and whispered, "Not here."

Phineas groaned quietly. "Where are we gonna go? And besides, I'm still in my pajamas. I don't want to be seen in public like this...even if it's in the middle of the night. At least let me put some clothes on."

Shima shook her head again and replied, "Where we're going you don't have to care about what you're wearing."

Phineas gave her a questioning look.

Shima closed her eyes and sighed. They stayed silent for a few moments before Shima finally spoke up again.

"I think it's time I told you the truth. About everything."

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh, a cliffie! I seem to do those a lot. Well...REVIEW! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Okay, I'm done. Did you like it? Well, TELL ME! I want to know your deepest, darkest secrets...haha, just kidding. Review, please. I'll be happy-wappy if ya do! And as for the link, just go to you tube and watch it, cause the links aren't working. It's from a Pokemon movie. I know, I'm such a dork. But all of the Pokemon movie songs are REALLY good. You people should listen to some of them sometime.<strong>

**This Side of Paradise (Bree Sharp)**


	9. Secrets Revealed

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! Hi, everyone! It's been a while. I'm not going into apologies, because that's all I seem to do lately. See, I had a REALLY bad case of WRITER'S BLOCK (curse my brain for not giving me any ideas) so that's why I was absent for so long. PREPARE FOR AN EXTREMELY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE. ****And must I say WOW again because I got SO MANY WONDERFUL REVIEWS! I almost died, seriously! I'm so happy! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Candace: Took you long enough to come back to us.**

**Isabella: Yeah! Where have you been? Since you've been gone so long, I got to have a LOT of time alone with Phineas! Uh, I mean...welcome back!**

**Star: Thanks, Izzie. Really. You too, Candace. Where's Phineas? I want to see nice people!**

**Phineas: Here I am! Shi, I-uh, I mean WE really missed you!**

**Shi: Daaww, thanks, Phin! I missed you too.**

**Ferb:...Welcome back. It's good to see you.**

**Perry: Grrrrrkrrrrrr! (Where have you been? Doof is starting to get on my nerves!)**

**Shi: Sorry, Perry. You have my permission to punch him in the face.**

**Perry: Grrrrkkrrr. (On it!)**

**Shi: ANYWAY...new chappie! Yippee! And, as I've mentioned before, this is gonna be a BIG one! Phineas, please do the honors.**

**Phineas: (What honors?)_ WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING!_ This chapter contains things beyond your belief! If you do NOT like supernatural-dimension-creatures with powers stuff, then I suggest you STOP READING THIS FANFIC. It'll be sad to see you go, but we don't want you to suffer! Things are gonna change after this chapter, I assure you! It's AWESOME. It's one of the most important chapters in the entire story, so please read it! But if you don't like things like that, please don't read anymore of this. Oh, and no flames! That makes Shi sad. And then Perry'll come after you and bite your face off. Or something. It makes us angry when Shi's upset, so no flames please. Your flames will be used to roast marshmellows and sing campfire songs.**

**Shi: Thanks, Phineas. You're the best. Anyway, like he said, this chapter is very shocking. It's like the turning point in the story! So, like, Shima's a-**

**Shima: DON'T GIVE IT AWAY!**

**Shi: Sorry. Anyway, review time! Yaay!**

**Loverofallanime: OH. MY. ARKEUN. You are like the nicest person EVER! You reviewed every single chapter I have so far, and that made me VERY happy. Unbelievably happy, mind you! Let's go through here...I want to reply to everything that you've said so far. Then I'll be satisfied. Chapter 1: Thank you! I like it too. Yeah, he does that when he lies. Bad Phineas. Yup, I'm still writing away! Chapter 2: Yeah, the flashbacks were hard to do, but they were fun. Haha, yep! This chapter's revealing everything! Thanks! I love it too. Chapter 3: Haha, thanks a lot! Yeah, I tried to come up with a good one, so that's how it is. Oh, thanks! I thought that was confusing, but I'm glad you got it! Yup. He was hanging around up there. OMG YOU ARE TOTALLY CORRECT! Yeah, it is Primal Dialga! But I changed it. No more Pokemon! I made up my own thing now. But the bad guy's similar to PD, so it's okay. Haha, Perry's flashback in the Chinese ep was funny (even though we couldn't see it). Chapter 4: Yeah! Don't make Phin cry. That'd be heartbreaking. Yes. Buford needs to man up and be more like Baljeet! OMG, when he laughed in that ep I almost died it was so cute. Chapter 6: Oh, thank you! Yeah, RP and Colin are both nice guys. Don't worry, there'll be more fluff. Maybe. Yeah...to Candace, that's a win. Yup! Buf' has a name for everyone, it seems. Even Shima. Yeah, those parts were funny. "Doofenschmirtz's BASEMENT." XD Chapter 7: OMG YOU ARE SO CORRECT! So, yeah, you win. One PhineasXShima fluff, comin' right up (but not in this chapter...okay, maybe there's a little, but whatever)! Yeah, Phineas would not want to have a nosebleed. That's be really bad. Lol! Excaliferb! Chapter 8: That WAS a Misha quote! Do I know you in real life? You seem to know everything I do...hmm...As I mentioned before, you shall get your fluff chapter. Yeah, I agree with you on that one. Don't worry, she's a good girl. Oh, hell yes! I want him too! And yeah, poor Ferb doesn't become a prize...I'd claim him, too. Yup! That's this chapter! Isabella's 'Whatcha Doin'' Song. :D Thanks again for reviewing! I love how at the end of every one of your reviews there's a quote from the TV show. Please review again! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of this chapter!  
><strong>

**Pika14: Thank you for reviewing too! And, like Loverofallanime, you reviewed every single chapter. That made me really happy! Now, I'm going to reply to all of your wonderful reviews! Chapter 1: I totally agree! Not everyone thinks Phinabella is the best couple ever. But I still support it, though. Thanks and I'll keep writing until I PASS OUT! XD Just kidding. Chapter 2: I know! This story's so addicting (I'm not bragging, I swear! Even I can't stop reading/writing it!)! Yes, you'll keep finding out about her...uh, profile? I didn't know how to say that correctly...Chapter 3: Yeah! She is a strange one...haha, thank you very much! Chapter 4: Yeah, that'd be bad, wouldn't it? No problem! I'm going to finish this, no matter how long it takes! Chapter 6: Yeah, they're mysterious, alright! You'll find out more about them later. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Chapter 7: Yes. Yes he is. Maybe you're right...yeah, it's FERBTASTIC! I'm getting on it now! :D Chapter 8: Oh, yeah. That'll be explained in this chapter, too. Haha, yeah, not a lot of people saw that coming. Yeah, and HERE IT IS! Thanks again and I hope you review this chapter, too!  
><strong>

**JackieSparrow: I know you in real life, so your comment means nothing to me. :)**

**Ferb: How cruel.**

**Shi: You know who she is! Shut it!**

**Ferb:...**

**Shi: That's more like it! Now, moving on...**

**Sakiko: Thank you SO much for your review! I was really happy when I read it. And, yes, I caught that-after I posted the first couple chapters. T^T Sorry about that. When I realized that I was like, "OH CRAP!" I have fixed it now. Don't be sorry, it was my fault for making such a silly mistake. I should really research this kind of stuff more before I go and post chapters willy-nilly. Don't blame yourself. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and I hope to hear from you again soon!**

**Shi: PHEW! Now that that's all done and over with, I present to you A NEW AND SUPER DUPER CHAPTER! YAAAAAY! As Phineas kindly mentioned before, this chapter is probably one of the most important ones in the story, so I suggest you read it slowly and carefully...just kidding! Read at your own pace, but to too fast that you don't understand it. :) Perry, disclaimer please.**

**Perry: Grrrrrkrrrrrr. Grrrkrrr. Grkr. Grrrrkr. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrkrrrrrrrrrrr! (Shi does NOT own Phineas and Ferb. However, she does own Shima, Shira, Colin, RP, etc. so NO STEALING! If you would like to use her characters, please ask her first. Thanks and enjoy the chapter...even though I'm not in it.)**

**Shi: PERRY!**

**Perry: Grrrrkrrrr...(Sorry. It had to be said.)**

**Shi: Anyway, like he said, I don't own anything but my own characters and a cookie. So, yeah. Enjoy the chapter and REVIEW! It's almost like giving an energy drink to a thirsty teenager! So GET ON IT! Phineas?**

**Phineas: Roll chappy!**

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Secrets Revealed

Phineas stood there for a moment, letting the words sink in. Then, he blinked in surprise. "Wait…you're telling me everything?"

Shima nodded. "No more lies. I hate lying to you," She confessed, looking down at her shoes. That's when Phineas noticed she was still fully dressed.

"Were you up all night?" He asked her quietly.

"…Couldn't sleep." Was her mumbled reply.

"Well, uh…are you gonna take me to this place now?"

Her head shot up and she nodded furiously. "Yup." She grabbed his hand again and pulled him into the center of the backyard. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, she nodded to herself.

"Good, good." Phineas heard her murmur. Then she turned to him.

"I need to you close your eyes," She demanded.

"Wha? Why?" Then he tried his best to glare at her, but failed miserably. _Guess I really can't be strict,_ He thought to himself before saying, "I thought you said no more secrets."

"I did. But, uh…just close your eyes! I'll tell you why when we get there. Please?" She begged.

Phineas grunted and shut his eyes. "Fine."

"No peeking, or I'll kick you," She said seriously, which made him gulp nervously and shut his eyes even tighter.

Shima took a big breath and began to chant softly. "Lord Arkeun, there is a place I need to go. But to get there, I must travel through the dimensions. Please allow me to use my powers to accomplish this task. Star star, hoshi hoshi…"

_What is she going on about?_ Phineas wondered. He almost opened his eyes, but kept them shut. He knew it would hurt if Shima kicked him.

"Dimension Star!" Shima announced quite loudly.

Suddenly, there was a bright blue light that even he could see with his eyes closed. Then he heard Shima gasp in pain.

"Shima? What's wrong?!" Phineas cried out. He dared to open his eyes and look at her, but he thought of the pain that would come afterward and squeezed his eyes closed.

"'M fine," Came a choked reply. "I just haven't done this in quite awhile, so it knocked the wind outta me."

"Done what?! What's going on, Shima?!" Phineas wailed.

"Be quiet! The portal's open, now. Come on." Shima took hold of his wrist once more and he felt them jump into the light.

He gasped as he felt that his body had become weightless. Wherever they were, they were floating. Opening his eyes was seeming extremely tempting at the moment. It felt like they were flying, but it was hard to tell because his body was so weightless.

"I want to see," Phineas complained, squeezing Shima's hand.

"Not yet. You can see on the way back." Shima told him. Even though he could sense her presence from right next to him, her voice sounded far away.

"Almost there." She called out again.

Then, he felt a sudden burst of wind and his body became solid again, clumsily landing on the ground because he still couldn't see.

Wherever they were, it was sunset. He could tell by the light that shone through his eyelids. It was also slightly breezy, and he could smell the ocean. He inhaled the scent gratefully, and rubbed his bare feet on the ground. It felt good to not be weightless anymore.

Shima tugged his arm slightly, and he stepped forward until the stopped in what seemed to be the center of where they were standing. She let go of his hand.

"Alright, Phin. Open your eyes," Shima said.

Phineas opened his eyes and the sight took his breath away.

They were standing on a cliffside that towered high above the ocean. It was the most beautiful place he had ever seen in his life; even more beautiful than when his family had taken their vacation to Hawaii. It was like a tiny meadow. There was grass and flowers everywhere, and he could hear the sound of running water coming from behind him. The sun was big and bright, and it cast the most gorgeous colors in the sky. There were pinks and oranges everywhere, and the light had caught the clouds, too, making them look even more fluffy. Below the cliff was the ocean, which also shined brilliantly because of the sun. He spotted a small beach and figured that people walked down there sometimes. He turned around and gasped; there was an enormous tree that stretched high into the sky, with many branches that looked smooth and easily climbable. The leaves were green and fresh, and the trunk nice and smooth without any protruding bark. The bottom of the tree was even more amazing; there was only one, single root connecting the tree and the ground, the rest were suspended in the air which made the tree look like it was floating. Not too far away was a slope that headed upward; Phineas could see a small opening near the top of the slope and he recognized the mouth of a cave. Below the slope was a small pool of water. He realized that the ground sloped downwards there, which concluded that that path lead to an underground lake of some kind.

"Shima, it's…it's…it's so amazing," He murmured, breathless.

"Do you like it? It's one of my most special secret places." Shima said with a slight giggle.

Phineas turned around to face her and couldn't help but blush; she looked so beautiful as the sunset's rays hit her face, making her skin glow.

"I love it. This place…it's so beautiful!" He said with a smile.

"Good, I'm glad. This is the perfect place to tell you everything, because nobody will interrupt us." She beckoned him over and he followed, sitting next to her in the grass. It felt soft and comfortable, unlike the tall, itchy grass he sometimes walked in.

"So," Shima said, facing him. "Ask me anything you want, Phin. Fire away."

Phineas blinked in shock. There she was, letting him ask her anything, and he was speechless. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her, so he didn't know where to start.

"Take your time." She said sweetly.

Phineas nodded and waited a few moments before he finally came up with a good question. To be more specific, a question he had already asked.

"Alright…" He began, "How come we've never met your parents before?"

Shima looked down at this, her eyes shining with sadness. Phineas froze. Had he been too bold?

"Gone." She replied quietly.

Phineas's mouth dropped open in shock. "Gone?"

She nodded. "They're both gone. I hardly remember them. They died when I was little…or, rather, that's what RP told me."

"Bu…but…how could you-"

"Afford to live in that house?" She asked with a laugh, "I have endless amounts of money, let me tell you. My friends have provided me with every single kind of currency there is." She sighed. "I have to do all the chores myself, but it's worth it. You know, being able to live next to you guys and all. I bought the house over the phone." She smirked evilly, "I can sound like an adult when I need to."

Phineas could hardly open his mouth to ask his next question, "Your…your parents…what happened to them?"

"Like I said before, they died when I was little. I don't remember my past, you see…" Before he could interrupt, she continued quickly, "I lost my memory from when I was a baby. I only remember things from when I was five and onward. But RP told me that my mother was a beautiful woman, and my father a brilliant scientist who knew everything. I think my mom died of a horrible sickness…and I've come to believe that my dad might possibly still be alive out there, somewhere…" She suddenly looked angry. "But I don't want to see him. Ever."

"Who's RP?" Phineas asked quickly.

She brightened up at this. "My partner and my closest friend in the world." She grinned. "He's always looked out for me, no matter what. I've known him since I was little. He's taken care of me this whole time, and I don't know what I would've done without him."

Phineas remained silent at this, still trying to absorb everything he had just told her.

"How come I've never met him before?"

She looked at him, her eyes wide with fear. Then she slowly relaxed. "Okay, Phineas. This is probably going to be the most important thing I'll ever tell you."

Phineas braced himself. What secret could possibly sound so devastating?

She took a deep breath and said, "I'm from another dimension."

Phineas stared at her. His mind slowly processed what she had just said. _Another…dimension?_

"Phin…say something," She pleaded, "_Please._"

"You're from…a different dimension?" He finally managed to say.

Her eyes filled with relief and she nodded. "That's right."

"Like…like that time we built that machine? The one that goes to other dimensions? The one that Perry fell in?"

She tilted her head to the side. "Kind of," She said.

"Bu...but how? When? Wha…?"

"I come from a place called Kishuniia," She explained. "No, I'm not an alien. Just wanted to clear that up. Anyway…Kishuniia is a beautiful place where humans, like me, and Kishuma's, the creatures that inhabit Kishuniia live in peace and harmony together." She laughed, her voice chiming like bells, "It sounds like one of those lame ol' video games, doesn't it? But it is a real place. And that's where I live."

_No. Way._

"Turns out that Perry fell into your little dimensional portal and ended up in Kishuniia," She explained, "I found him not too long after and I helped him get home. That's why he likes me so much, 'cause I helped him get back home. Does that answer your 'Where did you live before you moved to Danville' question?"

Phineas blushed at this. "I…I guess s-so."

"Anything else?" She asked him.

"Yeah…why are you here, then? Why aren't you home?"

She winced, horror slightly filling her eyes. "Here's the second most important thing I'll tell you." She looked straight at him, making him shudder. Sometimes it felt like she could see into his soul. "I'm on a mission."

"A…a mission?" Phineas repeated. She dipped her head once to answer his question.

"That's right. You see, back in Kishuniia there is a terrible monster." She paused, then said, "Well, actually, there are several terrible monsters, but this one is the absolute worst. Anyway, that terrible monster is after my power. I'll explain that part later. This horrible creature goes by the name of Diamond, who used to be a good, helpful Kishuma until he was consumed with greed and hunger for power. He turned evil, or primal, and turned on the world. You see, Diamond is one of the Great Legendary Beasts of the land…not gonna go into that explanation, it's too long…okay, long story short; each Great Legendary Beast controls or governs something, and in Diamond's case, it's time, so yeah, he wanted to mess up time, steal my power, rule the world, yadda yadda yadda, so RP sent me to travel across the dimensions so I could possibly find a way to heal Diamond's corrupted Stone of Time and return him to his normal state so he wouldn't try to destroy us anymore." She took a deep breath and sighed. "So far, I haven't had any luck in finding the cure. That's why I went on that trip a few days ago…actually, that's why I've went on all the trips over the years. I've been trying to find something that'll help."

"Wait…so you're traveling the dimensions to find a cure for this Stone of Time?" Phineas asked, dumbfounded.

"That's right."

"And apparently you have a giant, evil beast chasing after you so he can steal your…power?"

"Bingo."

"So when he finds you, he comes to the dimension you're in and tries to capture you?"

"Yup. Wow, you figured that out easily. I thought I'd have to explain that whole concept to you, too. You catch on fast."

Phineas shrugged at her compliment and continued nervously, "So when he tries to come after you, you leave the dimension forever?"

She suddenly looked really sad. A lump rose in Phineas's throat. _Oh no, oh no, oh please no…_

"S-so…" Phineas choked out.

"Yeah," She murmured softly, "That means that eventually I'll have to leave this place behind, too."

Phineas let out a puff of air; he hadn't realized he'd be holding his breath until then. Then, shock overcame him.

_Shima's…leaving? Forever? As in, like, she's leaving and never ever coming back?_

"I'm not leaving now," Shima explained quickly, "I'm sure the time will come eventually, but it'll be a long, long way away from now. Well…Shira did create some problems when she left to find me, but I'm sure RP and my other friends covered her so Diamond didn't notice anything weird going on. Although I'm sure he'll realize Shira's missing eventually…" She shook her head wildly. "But please don't worry about it now. I'm not leaving, Phin. I'm gonna be here for a long time, I promise you."

Phineas nodded slowly, trying his best not to hyperventilate. He took a few deep breaths and took a minute to gather his thoughts.

_Okay, so…Shima's from a different dimension. Did not see _that_ coming. And, eventually, she's gonna be gone. Forever. I don't know if I can handle that. _He shook his head._ Don't think about it. Shima said she wasn't leaving for a long time, and I believe her…right? Oh, no! How am I supposed to tell Ferb about this? And Isabella, too…oh, geez, that reminds me!_

"So what's up with Shira, anyway?" He blurted out, trying to change the 'leaving-forever-and-never-coming-back' subject.

Shima's mouth formed into a slight frown. "Oh, her," She muttered. "Shira's not my real sister. I mean, she kinda is, but…she's my clone, to be more precise."

Phineas's jaw dropped again. _I don't think I can take much more of this. It was better when she was lying about it all!_

"You see, I already told you my dad was a brilliant scientist, right? So, long story short: I caught Mom's sickness, Dad was afraid I'd die, too, so he cloned me in his little laboratory on his own private island, made Shira better than me in looks and smartness, but she is _not_ smarter than me, thank you very much, lab exploded randomly, everyone evacuated except for me. I was left on that island, which, in fact, was burning to the ground and I was left all alone to fend for myself…I was perfectly healthy and not dying, mind you, and my Daddy just left with the clone and ditched me. Pathetic excuse for a father, huh?" She spat, "That's why I hate him so much. And Shira…it's not her fault, but whenever I see her, she reminds me of what my Dad did to me, and sometimes I just can't stand it. And as for her, she…feels like she needs to be better than me because she was cloned from me, and she doesn't want to be treated as my copy. She wants everyone to treat her as her own person, her own existence."

_Woah. No wonder they hate each other so much._

"I lost my memory then, of course…that's when RP found me." She smiled softly. "He took me in, healed me up, and took care of me. Then, a few years later, he took me to Kishuniia. A few years after that, he told me what happened on the island and how I got my name. I was named 'Shima', which means island in Japanese, which is what RP found me on, and my last name, 'Hoshi', was for the stars in the night sky that shone when he found me."

Phineas looked at her softly. She had been through quite a lot. Then, a thought struck his mind.

"What happened back there? With the necklace and the glowing and all?"

Shima gulped nervously. "Oh, _that_," She said. "Well, uh…third most important thing I'll tell you…" She took a moment to calm her nerves and said, "I'm the Ruler of the Stars."

"Ruler of…the Stars?" Phineas repeated dumbly.

"Yeah. You see, this necklace…" She said, toying with it slightly, "was a gift given to me by Lord Arkeun. Lord Arkeun is the highest being of all. He has created every single dimension, world, person, thing, anything you can think of. He is God, basically."

_Another shocking surprise, _Phineas thought numbly, _I think I'm gonna die. Right now._

"Now, this necklace controls my power, you see."

_Power, huh…she was talking about that earlier…_

"I have 'unfathomable power', as RP calls it," She said. "If I don't wear this, my powers will go out of balance, and…" She winced, "'Destroy everything in my path'. I, uh…" She trailed off, her voice becoming very small, "I destroyed a city once…"

Phineas looked at her, shocked.

"I-I didn't mean to!" She said hurriedly, "It was a complete accident, I swear! _Anyway_…what I mean by 'Ruler of the Stars' I mean like a…a Goddess of some sort. I 'Rule the Stars', you see? That is my power."

Phineas simply nodded.

"Now, when you were tickling me earlier…I was reacting to it as if you were attacking me, so that's why my necklace, or, rather, my _powers_ did that-it's a protective defense against 'attackers'. Well, you obviously weren't attacking me, so…it was a mistake. I'm _really_ sorry for doing that to you."

"'S okay," He mumbled.

"Shira's one, too. She's a Ruler. So is RP. All of my friends control a specific element. I control the Stars, obviously-Shira controls the Sky, or the Clouds, and RP…" She looked confused for a moment, "Hmm. I don't really know what RP controls…everything, I guess. He doesn't really have a specific element like we do. And by how we got here…we traveled through the dimensions, of course."

Phineas nodded again, too shocked and too tired to reply. Then, he thought of something Shima had stuttered over earlier. Deciding to bring it up, he asked, "What's up with Perry?"

She looked slightly surprised at this, but shook her head. "That, Phin, isn't my secret to keep," She told him. "I'm sure Perry will tell you everything when he's ready."

"Okay…" Phineas replied awkwardly. _How can he tell me? He's a platypus; they don't do much…or, rather, Perry does do stuff, I just don't know exactly what it is._

"I…I know this is a lot to take in," She explained quietly. "But I couldn't stand lying to you any longer, it just made me feel so, so guilty. That's why I told you everything I know." She stood up and offered her hand to him. "Come on. We should get you to bed."

He took her hand without a word and followed her back over to where they had entered.

"I'm going to open a portal," She said, "That's what we went through to get here, you see. This is another dimension, too." She took a deep breath and started to chant, like what she did back at his house: "Lord Arkeun, there is a place I need to go. But to get there, I must travel through the dimensions. Please allow me to use my powers to accomplish this task. Star star, hoshi hoshi…"

With a flick of her hand, a blinding, bright blue portal appeared as she finished, "Dimension Star!"

"Let's go," She said, and with one step, they vanished inside the portal.

Phineas felt his body become weightless again, but that wasn't what surprised him. Thousands of tiny portals depicting thousands of different worlds surrounded him from every side. Shima skillfully led him through the maze, being careful as to not lead them into the wrong dimension. Soon, they flew over to a familiar looking portal that showed a grassy backyard at midnight. They jumped in eagerly, knowing that this was the way home.

They landed in the grass of Phineas's backyard not too long later, the glowing blue light disappearing with a soft _whoosh._

_Home at last, _Phineas thought gratefully, rubbing his eyes. He was awfully tired.

"Off to bed with you, then," Shima said. "You're going to need a good night's sleep if you want to invent tomorrow."

Phineas yawned and started heading for the back door when she grabbed his arm. He turned around and looked at her questiongly before she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, whispering, "Thanks for listening to me."

Then, she was gone.

Color flooded his cheeks once again, and he was glad she wasn't there to see.

He headed upstairs without a word and collapsed onto his bed with a soft sigh. Within minutes he was fast asleep, not caring about the fact that he'd have to tell Ferb about Shima the next day.

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><p><strong>WOAH! How'd you guys like THAT (sorry, I tend to use capitals when I'm excited...or, like Loudred from PMD would say, "I'M SORRY! IT'S JUST THAT I HAVE ABNORMALLY DEVELOPED VOCAL CORDS SO MY VOICE GETS REALLY LOUD!")? Shocking, huh? Now, tell me what you think by reviewing! So, yeah! I'll see you next chapter (hopefully?)! Bye now!<strong>


	10. Storytelling and Sickness

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, long time no see! Actually, it hasn't been too long since I last updated, so here you guys go! Brand new chapter! This one's super long, though, so...yeah. Anyway, I HIT 100 PAGES ON MICROSOFT WORD! Yaaay! I got there and I was like, "100 pages already? Wow, have I actually written that much? This is like the longest story I've ever made, in like, my life." I hope everyone didn't miss me too much.**

**Phineas: You kept us waiting long enough! I mean, uh...yeah. Thanks for trying to update sooner, I guess.**

**Candace: I'm not in this chapter, like, at all.**

**Shi: Stop complaining.**

**Perry: Grrrrrkrrrr! (Well, I'm in it this time! Thanks, Shi!)**

**Shi: You're welcome. Anyway...Ferb? It's your turn.**

**Ferb: -sighs-_ WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING!_ ****This chapter contains mentions of BLOOD and gory stuff and scars and demons and-**

**Shi: Stop giving it away!**

**Ferb:...So, yeah. If you don't like blood then...**

**Shi: You should've guessed! Why else is this story rated T? So, this chapter contains a lot of FLUFF! Towards the end, at least. That part was for Loverofallanime, who guessed the right answer about Shira being a twin. So, this is for her. PhineasXShima fluff, just for you! Now, onto reviews!**

**Loverofallanime: You reviewed again! Thank you so much! Yes, since I figured you were a PMD fan, I decided to put that in, just for you :D Now the story will be much easier to write since Shima confessed and everything. Yep, Perry's in the majority of this chapter, so yay for Perry! Yeah, I plan on having Shima stay for a while longer, now...and yeah, Shima does dislike her sister, very much, but there's some moments where they get along. Yeah, her dad is a total jerk, so that's why Shima hates him so much. And, thank you! I didn't want it to sound like PMD, so I guess I did good. :) You'll see if Shima's a Kishuma in this chapter, don't worry. Haha, Phineas and Ferb movie. ^_^ The last part of this chapter is the PhineasXShima fluff you wanted, so that part's dedicated to you! I hope you like it!**

**Pika14: Thank you very much! I was hoping you'd review again. Maybe you'll do it for this chapter, too! Yes, the story's gonna get real good now! I'm so excited to hear your reaction! I hope you enjoy this!**

**MsAmiClassified: As I told you on deviant art, I'm working very hard to fix Shima's personality. I think she sounds a little better in this chapter, so hopefully you'll review again and tell me what you think. Thanks for your review. You weren't criticizing me in a bad and mean way, and I'm very, very thankful for that. :) Review again, please!**

**Now, there's a lot of stuff going on in this chapter, and Phineas kinda seems OOC at the end, but I hope it isn't too bad. Also, for the first part of this chapter, I was having a bad case of WRITER'S BLOCK. I apologize if that part sucks. But the ending's good, so...yeah! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews, and here's a brand new chapter of Fireworks for you!**

**Baljeet: Rolling the chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Storytelling and Sickness

"…eas…ineas. Phineas!"

Phineas's eyes shot open to see Ferb looming over him with a concerned look on his face. Rubbing his eyes, he pulled himself into a sitting position and looked at his brother questiongly. "What's up?"

"You've been sleeping for a really long time. It's 9:30." Ferb told him, panic showing in his eyes.

Phineas took a quick look at the clock and gasped. "No way! Ferb, why didn't you wake me up earlier? Now we've lost two hours of inventing!" He complained as he shot out of bed and rummaged through his dresser to try to find something to wear.

"I tried, but you just wouldn't wake up." Ferb said, his voice full of relief that his brother was okay.

Phineas arched a brow as he pulled on a plain white t-shirt with a simple orange stripe across the middle. "Sorry. Were you worried?"

Ferb looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Mom thought you fell into a coma or something."

"Or _you_ thought that," Phineas accused him. Ferb turned away, trying to walk casually over to his bed. "Right?"

"I-it's not that big of a deal," His step-brother replied, playing with one of his trophies that sat on his desk. "It's just that you usually wake up really early, so…we got concerned."

Phineas laughed at his brother's clear embarrassment about being worried about him. "Don't worry about it, bro," He chuckled, "I just stayed up a little late last night…"

_Oh, man! I have to tell Ferb about Shima._ He thought nervously, _But what's he gonna say? I mean, sure, we always agree on everything together, but…it might be different this time around…he might not believe me at all…_

"Uh, Ferb?" He called after successfully managing to pull on a pair of jeans, "I, uh…need to talk to you about something…important."

Ferb turned around, worry etched across his face once again. "What is it?"

Phineas sat down on his bed and shuffled his feet nervously. "Well, uh, last night Shima came into our bedroom."

Ferb's eyes went wide. He sat on his own bed, looking at his brother curiously. "Why was she here?"

"Um…she took me somewhere. Er…she said it was one of her secret places." Phineas explained quietly.

"Go on."

"She, erm…she told me some stuff…that you need to know…" He trailed off, not knowing where to start.

Ferb crossed his arms expectantly. Phineas knew he didn't like it when they kept secrets from each other, and Phineas wasn't too fond of it either. "Tell me." He demanded softly.

Phineas took a deep breath and told Ferb. Everything. About Shima living alone and not having any parents, about how she was from a different dimension and how she came from a place called Kishuniia, how she was traveling the dimensions to search for a way to heal the Stone of Time, how she was a Ruler, and Shira as well, about her past, about how Perry ended up in her dimension and how she got him home (Ferb had nodded and said, "So that's what happened to him."), her power, how a huge, evil dragon was chasing after her, and last but not least how she'd eventually have to leave them and their dimension behind forever.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Phineas fidgeted and played with his shirt while Ferb had his eyes closed and was thinking hard about what his brother had told him.

"So that's who she really is." He stated finally.

Phineas looked at his brother, waiting for him to say something.

"I guess it's not that much of a surprise. I mean, with her necklace glowing and all…it makes sense. No wonder her and Shira fight so much and how they look exactly alike…also how we never see her parents…" He nodded to himself, a slight smile forming on his face. "I'm glad she finally spilled the beans."

Phineas couldn't help but break into a huge smile.

_I knew it,_ he thought happily, _I knew Ferb would believe me!_

"Let's go down and eat some breakfast. Then, we can ask Shima about her world later." Ferb said, getting up and putting on his favorite baseball cap and black sneakers and heading out their bedroom door.

Phineas grinned and threw on his shoes as well. "Okay!" He agreed cheerfully, following his brother out the door and downstairs into the kitchen.

"Good morning, boys," Linda said. She was gathering her things. "You're up awfully late."

"I let Phineas sleep in," Ferb explained, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Well, that's nice of you," She said with a smile. "Your father and I are going out to a movie, so if you need anything, don't be afraid to call and ask."

She paused, thinking. "Actually, don't call. Text." She grabbed her purse and gave a quick kiss to each Flynn-Fletcher boy. "Candace went home this morning. She'll probably be over later tonight with Jeremy. What are you boys doing today?"

Phineas shrugged in reply as he ate his waffle. "We don't know yet. Usually, our ideas come alive in the backyard."

Linda nodded. "Well, that's alright. I'll be back soon, so don't take down your invention until I see it first!"

"Don't worry, we won't," The redhead inventor assured. "'Bye, Mom!"

"'Bye, dears. Have a good day! Oh, and don't hurt yourselves when you're building things." Linda waved goodbye before stepping out the door and calling, "I'm coming, Lawrence! Give me a moment!"

After finishing their breakfast, the two brothers headed out into the backyard to plan their daily invention.

What they found, however, surprised them.

The gang was there, waiting for them-Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet were all waiting patiently. When the stepbrothers stepped out into the backyard, their faces lit up with excitement.

"There you are! What took you so long?" Isabella exclaimed.

"We thought that you got captured by aliens or somethin'." Buford chuckled, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dark shorts.

"You two are extremely late! We expected there to be an invention already set up, but when we arrived, there was absolutely nothing!" Baljeet complained.

"Sorry, guys," Phineas laughed, "I just slept in a little late today."

"_Eeeeeeeyaaaaaah!_" Suddenly, a loud scream pierced their ears. Then,

"_Shira!_"

"Oops! Sorry!"

Two figures stumbled into the backyard, looking slightly startled. One straightened up immediately, looking happy to see her new friends. Around her neck hung a strange sky blue necklace that looked similar to Shima's; it was in the shape of a cloud and Phineas figured that every one of Shima's friends had a necklace to help control their power. The other girl looked quite embarrassed; her face was bright red.

"Hey, guys!" Shira greeted happily. Today she wore a cute red summer dress with orange flip-flops. Her hair was tied up in its usual style.

Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet all gawked. Then Phineas remembered Shima hadn't explained the whole sister thing yet-actually, the whole _clone _thing.

"Ooh, I hate you so much right now," Shima whined, covering her face with her hands. She wore a floral, white shirt with a reddish-orange plaid skirt and white flip-flops. Her hair was tied back into a low ponytail.

"What happened?" Ferb asked.

"Nothi-" Shima began, but she was cut off from a loud exclamation from her sister, "I saw a _huge _bug and I screamed right into Shima's ear!"

Shima smacked her forehead and groaned. "I think you almost screamed my brains out."

"That's my job!" Shira said with a thumbs-up. Then she spotted Phineas.

"Phineas!" She screamed, running over and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. "How's my favorite boy doing? Oh, you are just the _cutest _thing!"

Isabella and Shima immediately went red at this.

"Step _away_ from the inventor!" Shima growled, her necklace glowing again.

"Aye aye, captain!" Shira said, saluting her sister and stepping away from Phineas, who was also blushing furiously. She winked at him and mouthed, "I'll get my hands on you later."

"Will you please explain to us as to why there are two Shima's? You did not tell us yesterday, either!" Baljeet demanded, interrupting the annoying clone's charade.

"Yeah! Why are there two of her? _One's already enough,_" Isabella agreed, whispering the last part under her breath.

Shima looked at Phineas, wincing. "Should we tell them?" She asked.

"The truth?" Phineas asked in reply.

Shima nodded. Phineas shrugged. "I guess, if you want to."

Shima sighed quietly, went into the center of the backyard, and plopped down on the grass. "Come on, guys. I have a story to tell. And it'll take awhile."

With suspicious glances, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet all gathered around her. Phineas, Ferb and Shira joined in too.

"Yay! Shi Shi's stories are the best!" Shira cheered.

"Be quiet!" Shima snapped angrily. Her twin just giggled.

"Here we go…" Ferb muttered.

Then, for the third time, the story of Shima and Shira's past was explained. As Shima told the story, everyone was ultimately transfixed on her, drinking in her every word with excitement and shock in their eyes.

About halfway through the story, after Shima had just told them about Shira being her clone, Shira cried, "What!? No way!"

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"You already know that!" Shima said confusedly.

"I know. I just wanted to put in some dramatic effect!" Shira replied cheerfully.

Shima rolled her eyes and continued. It took a while, but finally everything had been explained, and the trio who hadn't heard the story before were shocked.

"No way." Isabella said quietly, her eyes wide.

"Unbelievable." Baljeet said softly.

"Makes sense to me." Buford shrugged. The other two turned to look at him and he said, "What? I knew somethin' was up with her. I knew she was different all along."

"Uh…thanks, I guess?" Shima said awkwardly.

"He does have a point," Ferb pointed out, "We've seen stuff much, much weirder than this."

"True." Phineas agreed immediately.

"Did you guys already know about it?" Isabella asked, her eyes still wide as saucers.

Phineas laughed nervously and said, "Shima told me last night."

"Phineas told me this morning," Ferb said.

"Shima told me a _long_ time ago!" Shira added cutely.

Everyone turned to stare at her. She merely giggled and they all continued their conversation, deciding to ignore her for the time being.

"What are Kishumas, exactly?" Baljeet questioned.

"Oh. Well, Kishumas are beings with extraordinary powers." Shima explained, "They all differ in appearance and power, but they are all similar in many ways."

"Extraordinary powers? Like what?" Buford asked.

"Well, they can all use different moves based on their type. Kishumas all have a different type…there's many different types. Flame, Water, Plant, Electric…there's lots of types."

"Me and Shima are Kishumas, too." Shira told them.

"_What?!_" Everyone gasped.

"You didn't tell us that part!" Phineas wailed.

"I didn't think it was that important!" Shira replied, looking surprised. "But, as Shima said, we can transform into Kishumas. Do you…do you wanna see?"

"Yes!" The gang said immediately, their eyes fixed on the twin sisters.

"Alright, here we go…" The siblings stood up, nodded at each other, grasped their necklaces, and began to chant.

"Lord Arkeun, I have come across a situation in which I must transform. Please grant me your power and allow me to turn into my Kishuma form!"

"Stars!" Shima declared.

"Sky!" Shira chirped.

"Henshin!" They both announced.

Suddenly, the two girls' bodies began to glow. Shima's glowed lavender, and Shira's glowed sky blue. Their forms began to change; both of them becoming smaller and smaller until they were about Perry's size.

Everyone blinked in surprise as two creatures appeared before them, varying greatly in appearance.

Shima had seemingly turned into a little blue penguin of some kind. Her body was blue and she still had her same necklace on. On her face was a strange star pattern. Her eyes were still the same lavender color, but they were slightly bigger, making her look quite cute. She wore a gorgeous blue cape that was held together by a big, blue jewel, presumably a sapphire. On her stomach were three yellow triangles, and she had a long tail with a yellow star on the top. Her feet were yellow as well.

Shira looked like a small green deer. She had long, white ears with two nooks on the top. On the top of her head was a patch of green fur. She had her necklace too; but it was slightly hidden by a light green veil tied around her neck. On her back were two small, red wings that helped her fly. Her short, skinny tail had a tiny flower at the end of it and her cute paws were like green boots, big ones that started off big at the top and small at the bottom, but it was still a part of her. She winked at Phineas, making him blush slightly.

"So," The new Shira said, bringing up a paw and rubbing her face, "you like?"

"Awesome," Phineas, Ferb, and Buford breathed out.

The penguin-like Shima crossed her arms and huffed, "Stop showing off, Shira."

"That's not my name," Shira teased, "When I'm in this form you should call me by my proper Kishuma name: Sheimii."

"What's Shima's proper name, then?" Ferb asked.

"Oh, well, we never call her by her proper name because she doesn't like it," Sheimii explained, "but her proper Kishuma name is Pipurii."

"Do all Kishuma names end in 'ii'?" Baljeet asked.

"No. Like I said, some names are similar…in this case, it's quite ironic, because we're twins, so it's quite weird that our names happen to be alike."

"I'm transforming back," Shima said, and with that, she began to glow and changed back into her regular form.

"Fine. If you are, then I am too." Sheimii said, and she transformed back as well.

The human Shima blushed and crossed her arms, looking away from the group. The others watched in confusion as she did this.

"What's up, Star?" Buford asked.

The girl merely shook her head back and forth before replying, "I normally don't like transforming unless it's really important." Her face reddened as she continued, "Besides, it's embarrassing."

"No it isn't," Phineas objected, "You looked cute as that little penguin."

Shima flushed bright red at this, and Shira elbowed her in the side, giggling madly. Isabella started fuming, so Ferb put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Well, I think we've told them everything," Shira said cheerfully. Then she paused. "Oh, yeah! One more thing. Shima and I are immortal and we can change our age to whatever we want!"

Everyone's mouths dropped at this as Shira continued, "I'll demonstrate!"

Her body glowed for a split second, and then she suddenly looked much older. "I'm 25 now," She said.

Glowing again, she reappeared as an old lady. "Now I'm 60." She said in a croaky voice. Another flash and she was a little girl. "Now I'm 5!" One last flash and she was back to normal, winking, "See?"

"Cool! That's so awesome!" Phineas exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement. "So you can change your age? Wait…how old are you guys, actually?"

"Phineas! That's rude. Never ask a girl her age!" Shima said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Sorry," Phineas chuckled. He then thought how weird it would be if he had a crush on a 1,000 year old girl. _That'd be so awesome,_ he thought happily.

Shira looked at the ground in thought and then she said, "Wait…did you tell them about the scar and the curse and the demon?"

Shima's face immediately lost all color when her sister said this. Her eyes contracted in horror, and she looked terribly frightened.

"N-no. I-I'm not going t-to tell them about t-that." She stuttered, her hand moving down to rest on her stomach.

"About what?" Baljeet wondered.

Shima shook her head wildly and squeezed her eyes shut. "No, no, no! I'm not going to tell them!"

"Shima!" Shira whined, stomping her feet. "You said you'd tell them everything, didn't you?"

"N-not _that_," The older girl said, tears forming in her eyes, still looking terrified, "Please! I don't want to talk about it…" She begged.

"You can't keep it a secret forever," Shira growled. "I know it's painful, Shi Shi, but this is really important, too."

"N-no. I won't. I won't tell them!" She shot out of the backyard with such quickness that Phineas could've sworn she was wearing those fast shoes him and Ferb had made five years prior.

"What's her problem?" Buford muttered.

Shira simply sighed at this, and for once, she looked extremely sad. "It's a long story…and a painful one."

"We have time," Isabella said, looking worried about her friend.

"Alright," Shira said with another sigh. She sat down on the grass, and the others joined her, looking concerned. "It all started when Shima got sick one day…"

* * *

><p>Perry the platypus was carefully making his way down the hallway, looking for any signs of human life before putting on his fedora and jumping down a secret passage in a nearby closet.<p>

Sliding into his comfy red chair, Monogram appeared on the screen, looking wary.

"Good morning, Agent P," He said cautiously. Perry arched his eyebrow in confusion before Monogram explained, "Doof's back, and he got sick again. I'm just hoping that Carl and I don't catch it this time."

The white-haired man turned around and shouted, "Carl! Have you finished spraying that anti-sickness repellent yet?!"

"Y-yes sir!" Carl cried, then burst into a fit of coughs.

Monogram's eyes widened, and he called hysterically, "Carl! Please don't tell me that you've caught Doofenshmirtz's sickness!"

"I-it's not that! It's just that the spray is…" He coughed again, "…really strong, sir!"

Monogram let out a quiet sigh of relief. "That's good. I was afraid I'd catch it, too." With that, he turned back to Perry. "Well, go see what Doof's up to…he might've built an inator when he was feeling better. Hopefully it's not an evil one."

Perry saluted energetically, and with that, he was off. Grabbing a nearby jetpack that hung on the wall, Perry turned it on and flew out of his secret base, the annoyingly familiar jingle filling his ears as he came closer towards Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated.

* * *

><p>Shima ran down the street to her house, her heart weighing heavily as she thought about that night, the one that changed her life forever.<p>

_Not that,_ she thought, panic setting in, _anything but that._

And then, suddenly, the memories were upon her again.

_It was a terribly stormy night. The wind howled and lighting and thunder crashed down, making the earth tremble slightly. It was pouring out; the rain was pounding down, making it hard to move around in such weather. The setting: an enormous forest on the brink of destruction._

_Shima burst through the trees and into a small clearing. She looked around frantically, her beautiful lavender eyes wide with fear. Her dark brown hair was windswept and her face was flushed. She looked slightly feverish; she started to cough and her body shook violently._

_Shima grabbed her necklace and with her other hand pulled a staff out of thin air. At the end of the staff was a huge, glowing orb. It shined brilliantly when she took it out, but after it had made its appearance, the light dimmed down to a dull glow._

_She growled frustratedly. "My power is growing weaker," She murmured. Then she sneezed and shivered. "I can't last much longer...of course I had to be sick __today__ of all days..."_

_Then, a giant beast armored with steel lumbered into the clearing. Upon spotting the girl, he roared loudly and glared at her with its piercing red eyes._

_It seemed to be made of metal. It was black and silver colored; it had a huge tail and spikes stuck out of its body in random places. The spikes were blood red, just like its eyes. It was armored with huge plates of steel around its face, chest, and legs. It had huge paws and long, sharp claws that could slice a person to pieces. It had extremely sharp looking teeth, and it looked like it had about two hundred of them, if not three hundred. Its tail whipped about, crashing trees over as it slowly made its way into the center of the clearing._

_"FOUND...YOU." It grumbled with a deep voice._

_Shima let out a yelp of alarm; she whirled around to face the huge monster. _

_"Y...you!" She gasped. Her voice was raspy with the terrible cold she had._

_"YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT," It growled. Its voice made the ground tremble. _

_"N-no! I won't give it to you..." She cried faintly._

_"GIVE ME YOUR POWER!" The dragon-like creature roared._

_"Never!" Shima held her staff out in front of her for protection._

_The creature roared even louder than before and began to charge forward, lifting its paws and slashing out at her with razor sharp claws._

_She managed to dodge its attacks, but it wasn't easy; her sickness was slowing her down. Whenever its claws did make contact, she'd use her staff to block its blows. She was steadily becoming weaker. The glow on the staff's orb was slowly dimming down as well. _

_The dragon continued to lash out at the young girl, which wasn't good. Her defense was beginning to falter. _

_Finally, she gave up. Her staff slipped out of her hands and fell to the ground with a thud. She dropped to her knees, panting._

_"GOOD TIMING," The creature taunted. "LOOKS LIKE...I GOT LUCKY TODAY."_

_It raised a foot high in the air._

_Shima shut her eyes when the claws made contact. She did not make a noise; the only sound that was heard was a dull thud._

_She was knocked out cold, lying on the ground, and surrounding her was a pool of bright red blood. The pool only grew larger and larger, surrounding the fallen Ruler on all sides. The dragon laughed maniacally. _

_Her consciousness faded. The last thing that was heard was her comrade's shout, further into the woods, "Shima!"_

Phineas and the gang sat there, wide eyed, as Shira told them about Shima's downfall.

"My big sister nearly died that night," She murmured softly, her blue eyes shining with sadness. "If it wasn't for RP and the rest of Shima's friends, she wouldn't be here today."

"Bu…but how did she survive?" Isabella asked quietly, her voice only a little whisper.

Shira looked up at the sky, which was a bright blue, and said, "There was only one solution. We had to find a way to keep her alive."

"So we set out. RP put Shima into a trance; into a dreamlike state where she could not awaken until the cure was found. We searched far and wide, with a little help from some of our friends in town. We looked for a very long time until we stumbled upon a mysterious flower. This was no ordinary flower; it contained magical powers to heal any wound that was inflicted by an enemy. However, this flower came with a horrible curse-when the wound was healed, it would return three months after, and three months after that…so, basically, this wound that Shima has will never heal, no matter what we do. Have you guys ever noticed Shima wearing a flower in her hair?"

Everyone thought for a moment before Ferb spoke up, "Yeah, she wears it…every three months or so…" He trailed off, his eyes wide.

"That's why she wears it," Phineas breathed, "so the wound won't open again. Right?"

"Bingo!" Shira said, smiling. "Now, do any of you know where the wound is?"

The others shook their heads, thinking about where it could be.

"Have you guys ever went swimming with Shima? What kind of bathingsuits does she wear?"

"That's easy," Isabella said, "She always wears one-pieces."

"That means…" Buford started, but Baljeet cut him off, "The wound is on her stomach, correct?"

"That explains why she was clutching her stomach earlier!" Phineas realized.

"Right."

"Also, when you were tickling her, Phin," Ferb pointed out, "She said her powers were reacting as if you were attacking her. That must be because you were actually hurting her when you were tickling her, because the wound she has never completely heals!"

"No way…no wonder she freaked out. It must've hurt a lot," Phineas muttered guiltily.

"Exactly," Shira said with a grin. Then she winced. "There's one last thing, though."

Everyone looked at her, surprised. There was _more_?

"When Diamond, our arch enemy, nearly killed Shima, he also brought something to life inside of her…"

* * *

><p>Perry kicked down Doofenshmirtz's door and was surprised to see a huge inator sitting in the corner. Growling, Perry stomped over to the couch and recognized the shape of his nemesis, curled up into a little ball.<p>

Taking in his surroundings, the semi aquatic mammal gulped. There were tissues thrown about everywhere, stains that he didn't want to identify covered the couch and the carpet, and at the foot of the couch was a bucket with unknown contents inside, but from what he could smell he already guessed what it was.

After making his way through the tissue maze, Perry gently tapped Doof on the shoulder, who moaned quietly and turned around to face him. The platypus jumped back in fright; he looked absolutely terrible!

Doof's face was flushed bright red, and he sniffed constantly. He had bags under his eyes and he looked extremely exhausted-and extremely sick.

"Oh, hey, Perry the platypus…" Doofenshmirtz greeted in his German accent before he trailed off and clutched his head, groaning, "Ouch, that hurts my head…I have a horrible headache, Perry the platypus, you just wouldn't believe…not to mention that I have a fever, sore throat, stuffy nose, upset stomach…I've been throwing up all day…I guess this is what I get for not building anything evil in two days…" He sneezed.

Suddenly, loud stomping noises were heard; Norm the robot walked into the room with a bowl of soup in his mechanical hands. He walked over to the couch and said as quietly as possible, "I made you some soup!"

"Ugh, Norm, stomping around and then _trying_ to talk quietly does _not _help me in any way," Doof complained, pushing away the bowl of soup, "and I don't want any soup. If I even eat-no, scratch that, if I even _drink_ a sip of anything I will be puking my guts out like I did this morning when you made me toast."

Perry chattered quietly and pointed an accusing finger at his nemesis, "_Grrrkrrrrr!_"

"Huh? Why am I not in bed?" Doof sniffed, "That's because I had to get the sheets washed…nevermind that, I'll probably have to get a new bed, I threw up on it at least five times before Norm moved me to the couch." Looking down at the stains, Doof squeezed his eyes shut and moaned, "That didn't make much of a difference, either…"

Perry grinded his teeth nervously. His arch enemy had never been this sick before…he wasn't even as sick on that one day, five years ago, when Monogram and Carl had caught it too. Walking into the kitchen, Perry opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He strolled back over to the couch and offered it to Doofenshmirtz, who shook his head wildly, then groaned as his head started pounding again.

"Didn't you hear me earlier? If I drink one drop I'll be hurling all over the place again…"

Perry shook his head and shoved it into Doof's face, giving him a 'You'd-better-drink-it-right-now-or-else' look.

"He's just exaggerating," Norm explained. "He's delusional."

"Shut up, Norm," Doof growled before snatching the water bottle out of the monotreme's outstretched hand.

He opened the bottle without a problem, but when he lifted it to his lips to drink, he hesitated. Perry let out a growl of annoyance before shoving the tip of the bottle into Doof's mouth, who let out a yelp of surprise before he began to drink. Perry waited a few moments before Doofenshmirtz handed him back the bottle, now completely empty.

"Ahh," Doof said, rubbing his stomach, "That's much better. Hey, Norm! Go get me another bottle of water and then I'll tell Perry the platypus about my new inator."

At the word 'inator', Perry's eyebrows raised.

* * *

><p>"<em>Who are you?"<em>

_It was black. That's all it was, just blackness, as far as the eye could see. But she could still see the figure that stood in front of her, the one that looked exactly like her, except that she looked…evil._

_Her eyes were blood red and her hair was up, just like her own hair, the two pieces still falling to her shoulders, but she wore a small skull that kept her hair up. She wore the necklace, too, but it was black, such a deep black it was like hell. She wore an evil grin, with sharp, demon-like teeth and wrapped around her neck, arm, leg and hips were several bloody bandages, the red substance seeping through. She wore a black top that only went down to the top of her bellybutton and she wore black gloves, torn in some places. There was blood red lace attached to her clothing. Her skirt was red, too, but there were huge white splotches, like she had splattered blood on her skirt and hadn't cared to fix the rest. The skirt had black lace. She wore long, black boots with skulls on them. She also had black, ugly wings that belonged to a demon. She had a staff, too, but it was unlike her own; it was a cross, a holy cross, but on that cross was a skull attached to a bright red ribbon that hung limply in the air. At the bottom of her staff were the bloody red bandages covering her body. _

"_Why, I'm you, of course!" The other her replied, her eyes sparkling evilly and her voice high-pitched, unnatural._

"_You're…me?" The original asked, her lavender eyes shrinking in fear._

"_Yes. I am you, and you are me. We are one and the same." The demon-like her replied, eyes glittering._

"_We…we are not the same! We're nothing alike!" The original spat, balling her fists at her sides. "Who are you, really? How come I've never met you before?"_

_The evil her walked over to her, her feet making splashing sounds as she walked. The original looked down in confusion and paled when she realized it was blood the other her was walking through. The other her circled her slowly, and the original gulped nervously as she met that piercing red gaze._

"_Dearest Shima," The demon cooed, "I am now a part of you. I've always been here, you see, in the darkest and blackest portion of your heart, but it wasn't until evil claws pierced you that I came to be."_

"_Evil…claws? You mean…" Shima trailed off, her eyes widening as she realized what the demon her meant; when she had been cut down by Diamond._

"_I now exist, thanks to the Master of Time," The other her giggled eerily, "Now that I am here, and now that I have gotten your attention, there's a favor I'd like to ask, you see."_

_Then she was suddenly in Shima's face, her eyes glowing as she grinned at her other self, her sharp teeth showing. "I want out. I hate this place. All alone, for eternity, with nothing but an ocean of blood to keep me company…"_

"_Y-you want to leave?" Shima asked, her voice cracking._

"_Oh, yes. Wouldn't it be torturous for you to be trapped here, forever more? It's like hell, I tell you, my sweet friend. That's why I'd like for you to let me out."_

"_W-what would happen to me, then…?" Shima murmured, afraid of the answer._

"_You'd be stuck here instead of me. But that's a small price to pay to help out a dear friend, is it not…?"_

_Shima shook her head wildly and pushed the twin away, yelling, "No! I won't let you escape. If I let you leave, you'd hurt my friends! I can't let you do that. RP always told me that you can never trust a demon…and you are one, aren't you?!"_

_The demon's eyes glowed again, and suddenly the playful smile vanished from her face, earning Shima a sinister glare. "You shouldn't have done that," She said, her voice suddenly changing. It was deeper, more evil, more crazed. "You should've been a good girl and let me out." She smiled again, and her teeth looked sharper. "That's right, girlie, I'm a demon. And since you've decided not to let me out…" _

_Shima let out a yelp of surprise when the twin's hands wrapped around her neck. "I'll just have to kill you."_

"Then she told me about the huge fight afterwards, between her and the demon. After what seemed like a long time, she finally won, and then she woke up in a different place, the place that RP sent her to when she was on the verge of death."

Everyone was holding on to each other at this point, their eyes wide with fear as Shira told the story about Shima's demon coming to life. Both Isabella and Phineas clung to Ferb, who sat there calmly, not making a sound. Buford and Baljeet were literally hugging each other, whining softly.

"S-s-scary," Phineas choked out, tears in his eyes as he thought of that horrible situation that Shima had to go through. His arms tightened around his stepbrother, who rubbed his head in return.

"Uh-huh," Isabella agreed, absentmindedly burying her head into Ferb's shoulder, who patted her back comfortingly.

"Oh! What a truly horrifying experience!" Baljeet wailed, hugging Buford tightly.

"I didn't know Star had so many issues," Buford agreed, hugging Baljeet back.

"I guess she's not as perfect as we thought she was. Which is a good thing. Perfection isn't always the solution to your problems." Ferb said quietly, trying to comfort his brother and his neighbor.

"Now me, _I'm _perfect!" Shira said confidently, flipping her hair. "But as I was saying, the demon was dangerous at first, but Shima tells me that they seem to get along better now and that the demon helps her out from time to time. Apparently they have a…complicated bond, but it works."

"How interesting," Baljeet commented, having finally released Buford, who still clung to him.

"Drinks, anyone? I think we need to take a break from all the shocking discoveries." Ferb offered, slowly standing up as his two companions were still glued to him.

"That's it, I think," Shira said with a shrug, "unless you want me to tell you about all of our friends and their powers."

"We'll save that story for another day," Ferb concluded, finally managing to pry his friends off of him before heading inside.

The others followed suit, some still slightly shaken by the shocking truth. Phineas hesitated, his eyes finding Shima's backyard fence, not too far away.

Shira stopped at the threshold, looking at the Flynn boy confusedly. "What's up, Phineas?"

Phineas looked back at her worriedly. "I don't know, I just…" He sighed before continuing, "I'm gonna go check on Shima, okay? I'll be right back." He started walking over to the fence gate before calling out, "Tell Ferb to save a drink for me!"

He was awarded with a peppy, "Okay!" before heading out.

* * *

><p>Shima curled up on the couch, hugging her knees and biting her lip nervously. She was sure that Shira, being the big mouth she was, would tell everyone about the curse and…she shuddered. The demon.<p>

_How are they going to react?_ She wondered. _They're probably so shocked and disgusted that they won't want to be near me anymore._

Her eyes filled with tears, and even though she desperately tried to blink them away, they just kept coming. She let out a muffled sob, burying her head into a nearby pillow, one hand absentmindedly going to rest on her injured stomach.

_They probably hate me now. I've lied to them so many times, and now this. Knowing that I have an extremely dangerous demon inside of me, they probably want to stay away. And the curse…they'll never want to go swimming with me again, knowing that I have that stupid scar and everything. I tried to hide it, but I guess in the end I just couldn't keep secrets anymore._

Suddenly her front door burst open. Her head shot up, her face still streaked with tears, when Phineas stumbled in, clutching his head.

Her mouth opened in shock. "P-Phineas?" She managed to say through a hiccup.

Phineas shook his head from side to side, trying to snap himself out of it, when he saw his best friend on the couch, crying her eyes out. He immediately ran over to her with a panicked, "Shima! What's wrong? Is it the demon?"

Shira had told him that sometimes when Shima was emotionally corrupt the demon would try to take over her body and hurt her friends. He hoped that wasn't the case this time.

The brown-haired girl rubbed her eyes, muttering, "Phin, what are you doing here? …And, no. It's not the…the…" She burst into tears again, collapsing into his arms. Phineas squawked with surprise, his face heating up, but then he told himself angrily, _Now is not the time, Phineas!_ and calmed down.

Phineas took a deep breath and went on to comforting her. "What's wrong?" He asked softly, stroking her hair.

"You…you…I thought…I thought that…!" She blubbered, trying to get the words out.

"Shh. Just take a few deep breaths." While she did this, Phineas got up and grabbed a box of tissues. Handing them to her, he rubbed her back comfortingly and asked, "Now tell me what's bothering you."

"It…it's just that…" She took a deep breath and blew her nose before continuing, "I t-thought that after Shira told you about the…about the d-demon that you wouldn't like me anymore because i-it's so dangerous…" She trailed off, blinking. Then she realized how stupid she sounded and shook her head. "Nevermind."

"Why would you ever think that?!" Phineas cried, grabbing her shoulders gently. He realized now that she was staring straight at him, her lavender eyes shining with confusion, her face flushed and tear streaked, and he thought she never looked more beautiful. He looked away, trying not to blush. "I could never…I could never _not_ like you. It's impossible. Really."

Shima looked down, her eyes resting on her stomach. "What about the scar? Doesn't that scare you?"

Phineas shook his head. "No. I actually think it's pretty cool." Her mouth dropped open in outrage and he scrambled to find the right words, "The scar, I mean! Not the curse. That's just…terrible."

Shima's mouth closed and she waited for him to keep going. "It must be so hard for you." He looked at her straight in the eyes this time. "Why…why didn't you ever tell us? We could've helped you through it…we could've helped you through all of it."

She looked down again, avoiding his gaze. "I was…I was afraid that if I told you, you'd treat me differently. I was afraid that you'd think I was a freak, that I wasn't normal, that…that I…was different."

"…Don't…don't ever think that." Shima looked up again to face his intensifying blue gaze. "I meant what I said at the Fireworks Festival. You're always there for me when I'm feeling down, and you always cheer me up. You're smart, beautiful, courageous, talented, kind…there's no end to words that describe you. You've changed my life in many ways for the better, and I don't know how to thank you enough. Isn't that exactly what I said back then? I meant it. Do you not believe me?"

Shima's eyes filled with tears again, but they were tears of joy and happiness. She wiped them away, murmuring softly, "I'm sorry."

Phineas shook his head and looked away, his hands finally dropping from her shoulders. As he moved towards the front door, Shima grabbed his arm, yanking him back.

"I'm sorry. Really. I should've…" She took a moment to compose herself and said, "I should've realized before. You_ did_ mean it, Phineas. And I'm grateful for that." She entwined her fingers with his, causing his cheeks to start burning again. "You've always been there for me, too. I don't know what I'd ever do without you. If you never entered my life, I'd just…" She shook her head from side to side, "You're the most amazing best friend anyone could ever ask for. You're smart, talented, kind, handsome…you're a prodigy."

Phineas's eyes softened at this.

She pulled him into a hug. "Thank you."

Phineas hesitated for a minute, then he hugged her back, smiling into her hair. "Thank _you._"

She pulled away, looking down shyly. Phineas stared at her stomach curiously. What did her scar really look like?

Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached out, pausing when she flinched away. "Can I…?"

She relaxed and nodded slowly, gulping as he gently lifted up the hem of her white shirt until it was right below her chest. Phineas blinked in surprise; he hadn't expected her scar to be so…long. It stretched from right below her chest on her left side all the way down to her right hip. It was bright red.

"…Does it bother you?" She asked him quietly.

"No." Phineas said immediately. He found it remotely interesting. If he could do anything for her right now, it would be to find the cure to that stupid curse and close up the wound forever.

Phineas reached out and gently brushed the scar with his fingertips. Shima reeled back with a hiss of pain.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt?" He asked frantically.

"J-just a little," She replied through clenched teeth. "It's always like this. I have a hard time putting on shirts because it hurts to do it."

Phineas reached out again, watching for any signs of protest before he touched it again. Shima merely flinched, but she didn't move back. He gave her a few moments to adjust before gently running his fingertips from her hip to her torso. She relaxed under his touch.

"It's been a while since someone did this," She murmured, savoring the feeling of his cold fingertips against her burning scar.

"Mmm?" Phineas grunted, transfixed.

"Last time RP was helping me. I mean, he was…just helping me adjust, you know?"

"What is he to you?" He suddenly asked.

Shima looked at him in surprise. Was he…jealous? "My closest friend. My partner. My guardian. And I _only _think of him as a friend, nothing more." She smiled at him, a hint of secrecy behind her eyes. "Good enough for you?"

Phineas grinned, gently tugging down her shirt. "Yeah. So…do you miss him?"

She had a pained look in her eyes. "Everyday. I think about him all the time." She sighed. "I really wanna see him again…but I can't, not until I find the cure." She gazed off into the distance with longing eyes.

The cure…to the corrupted Stone of Time. That'd take a while.

* * *

><p>After chatting for a while longer and getting a snack, the pair exited Shima's household and started walking back over to the Flynn-Fletcher's.<p>

"Wow, really? She pushed you out of the bathroom when you were still in a towel and brushing your hair?" Phineas laughed uncontrollably. "That's hilarious!"

Shima laughed along with him, her eyes shining with amusement. "Yeah. I was pretty mad at her then, but now I just think it's really funny. Anyway, she was yelling at me the whole time I was taking a shower, so I started singing to drown out the noise. Then she got really angry. Then, you know what happened next. She threw me out and spent an hour taking a shower in there, so I had to wait to dry my hair and brush my teeth and all that stuff."

"Oh, man, that is priceless!" Phineas snickered.

"That's my sister for you," Shima said with a roll of her eyes. "Hey, when you came over…you stumbled through my door, like you just got hit by something. What happened?"

"Oh, that? Well…I don't really know what happened. There was this flash and then I got dizzy, and…then I was back to normal. It was really weird."

"Uh-huh…" Shima said with a sharp nod. "Well, it's probably nothing. Anyway, we should head back over and hang out with the others."

Phineas nodded cheerfully, and the two continued to walk down the street, chatting away.

When they arrived at the house, everyone was happily enjoying something to drink, whether it was Coke or lemonade.

"Hey, Shi Shi!" Shira greeted, raising her Coke can in greeting. Noticing her sister's blotchy face, she tilted her head to the side in question, which Shima gave her a 'we'll-talk-later' look in return.

"What were you guys doing over there? You were gone for a while." Isabella asked, trying her hardest not to glare at her closest friends.

Phineas smiled at her innocently, making her blush and look away. "Just talking."

"So…" Buford interrupted, and Shima shot him a grateful look; "What are we gonna do today? If you guys don't build somethin' I'm gonna die of boredom."

"I agree," Ferb piped in, "If we don't build something soon, I'm going to explode."

"Ooh! Like that one time, five years ago, when we climbed Danville Mountain! It was hilarious! Phineas was starting to go crazy because he could not build anything!" Baljeet said, chuckling to himself.

Phineas shuddered at the memory. "I _never_ want to go through that again," He muttered as Ferb handed him and Shima a glass of lemonade.

They looked at each other and grinned. "Drink up!" They both said, chugging down the ice cold lemonade with ease.

Suddenly, Perry padded into the kitchen. Even though to everyone else he looked like his usual self, to Shima he looked exhausted.

"Oh, there you are, Perry," Everyone said at once, then burst into laughter.

Shima stared down at the monotreme, getting suspicious as Perry's eyes started to droop slightly.

"Urm, I…have to use the restroom. Be right back." She excused herself, setting her glass down on the counter and signaling Perry to follow her with a quick glance in his direction. Perry looked around before following her into the living room.

Shima was sitting on the couch. Perry gratefully jumped up and settled into her lap, and she gently started to stroke his fur.

"What's wrong? Did you have some trouble with Doof today?" She asked quietly.

Perry nodded, making a quiet noise that sounded akin to a groan. He took a quick look, making sure nobody else was there, then he stood up next to her and made fast, understandable motions that explained to her what happened.

Finally, she nodded in understanding. "So, you went to Doof's. He was sick. You helped him get better, then you destroyed his inator before anything bad happened. After making sure Norm would help him get back to normal, you left."

Perry flopped back down on the couch and nodded, looking extremely tired.

"Well, okay. You get some rest. I'll have Ferb make you a healthy snack. Platypus food won't always do the trick." She patted him on the back before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Perry sighed and closed his eyes. It had been a long day, and there was nothing more he looked forward to than having something to eat, curling up in his bed, and getting some sleep.

As Shima headed back into the kitchen, she thought_, It must be hard to have a double-life. I hope Perry decides to let me tell the boys about his agent identity soon._

* * *

><p><strong>Ooh, what a nice ending! Anyway...tell me what you thought! The review button's down there, and you don't have to have an account to review, so...go ahead! I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye now!<strong>

**"Yeah, there's gonna be a platypus...THROWDOWN!"**


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